


THE MISERABLE MANOR: An Oxventure Tale

by tnnyoh



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Oxventure
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Hopefully not OOC, Outside Xbox, Post-Canon, Psychological Drama, YouTube, oxventure - Freeform, sometimes the characters are sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-01-01 13:27:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18335255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnnyoh/pseuds/tnnyoh
Summary: When a letter arrives for the young pirate captain, he and his friends must make a perilous journey back to his childhood home, but the journey is more than he bargained for, and may be more horrifying than Merilwen's hangover cure.





	1. Wayward Bound

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back my friends! This was taken down to fix some errors and add some additional things to the story, especially this first chapter, which has been lengthened and whatnot, future edited chapters to be added soon!
> 
> The title is from the cartoon that Andy worked on with Simon Chong called "Cornelius and Toots", Check it out!

Many good adventures, and this one, begin with a simple letter….

In the very early hours of the morning a young child with a sack that was filled to the brim with parchment walked causally through the harbor, the sky was a grim overcast and set the mood for the rest of the day.  The young boy pulled out a letter from the top of his bag and read it again, making sure he got the right name.

He shook his head and put the letter back, he had been given very specific instructions for this letter from who had sent it in the form of a scrawled note.

_I must ask that you deliver this with haste, as I wish very dearly to get this over with, I know that a young tearaway like you must have other such things you would be far more interested in doing, and perhaps you do not understand the meaning of the term important._

_Deliver this letter to it’s intended recipient, or there will be no payment._

The young boy rolled his eyes and clicking his tongue, just another rich jerk looking down on the lower class. Though he did wonder what was in the letter that made it so important, he tried holding it up to the low overcast light but he couldn’t make anything out.

He walked for a while before he found what looked like the letters destination, a ship docked in the harbor, the plank was let down as if someone had forgotten to undo it and he stepped carefully onto the ship.

He had seen a lot in his days as a mail delivery child and urchin, sleeping in back alley’s and living off roaches for a time, but this was probably the most disturbing, a young man slept face down on the deck of the ship, he was wearing a long black coat that was covered in what looked like dust.  The boy squinted and saw that there was a trail of vomit on the man’s chin.

The young boy shook himself in disgust, he stepped over the unconscious form and made his way through to a door specially marked “Captain’s Quarters”

He turned behind him and looked at the scene on the deck of the boat, many a time he would wake up the recipients of letters if they were sleeping when he arrived, but the crew of this ship looked as if they needed the rest, and carefully turned back to the door. He pushed it open, it was unlocked.

He stifled a laugh, what kind of an idiot keeps their own Captain’s quarters unlocked on a ship?

Entering the room, he carefully shut the door and looked around. It was an amazingly decorated room, with a desk, a bed and small adornments here and there, as well as a grand painting leaning against a back wall, he pulled the painting away from it’s resting place and looked at the front. It was presumably of the captain, a man with striking blue eyes and a smirk that even this young child knew, meant he was consistently planning crimes.

He carefully replaced the painting, trying not to create unnecessary noise and wake the whole crew of the ship, he walked over to the desk which had parchment on it and an ink quill laid across it as if the man had been in the middle of writing.  He peered down at the parchment.

_I think he was calling me stupid, but then I reminded him of that time he fell out of a tree twice and he shut right up, that’s right, don’t mess with this amazing, sexy, amazingly sexy man._

The young child was almost overwhelmed by this Captain’s stupidity, he put his hand to his mouth and stifled his laughter yet again as he read through more snippets of the journal.

_I got in trouble today with the guard Captain because I was putting up flyers in the town for my new amazing collection of adventures, We got into a shouting match and lets say… that I won, but also that I need something for this black eye._

The well deserved black eye aside, the child had other things to do and though it pained him to tear away from the thoughts of this obvious madman, he set the letter on the desk face up.

The child made his way quietly out of the Captain’s quarters and the ship without rousing the drunken crew, and the sun was starting to rise up through the clouds, catching the morning dew and making it look as though the air and surfaces were sparkling. 

The letter sat waiting on the desk where the child had set it, the soft light now filtering in through the back window of the cabin illuminated the room and the name on the letter.

_To Percival…._

**Several Hours Later**

Corazón stirred, he felt rough wood under his cheek and was confused for a moment, until the memories of last night started flowing back to him, he groaned loudly and tried to sit up.

He had been sleeping on the deck of his ship which was docked in the Moorcoast harbor “Ugh, not again” he pushed himself into a seated position as the world spun angrily around him.

“So, when I grab a giant bottle of rum and then claim I can chug it all, can someone _please_ stop me?” he looked around to see his crew in various states of illness, either from indulging too much or from the crashing waves moving the ship slightly through the night.

Or very likely, both, his stomach lurched at the thought and he grabbed the bucket that he placed near him the previous evening just in case, he thought he felt something coming, but it passed quickly.

“I did” Egbert said, he was less sick than the rest of them as he was more accustomed to drinking large quantities of alcohol, and also he was a dragon, but he still looked a more pale yellow than his usual golden tone.  “And then you pointed that sharp thing at me and told me to back off”

“It’s called a _rapier,_ Egbert… I’m sure you’ve heard of it before”  He put his head in his hands and gently groaned “I hate my life”

Prudence, who had fallen asleep leaning over a barrel that she had emptied her stomach contents into for most of the previous night mumbled something that Corazón couldn’t quite hear, but he assumed it was rude.

“Oy!” he said, “I didn’t make you guys drink, you know?”

Merilwen, who was sitting against the far side of the ship and meditating with her eyes closed spoke up “I feel fine”. Corazón couldn’t couldn’t be sure of it but he thought that the sun was actually creating a spotlight right where she was and bathing her in it’s golden glow.

“And” she continued, opening her eyes and pushing to her feet “I have the perfect cure-all for you idiots as well”

“Is it M. Chanail’s? Because I hear that turns you into an animal” Dob asked, holding his head in his hand

“Dob, I know this, we were there together”

“Oh yeah!” He shouted loudly, making everyone wince.

“It’s a tincture” She said, removing some items from her adventure pack and mixing something up in a stone bowl.  She passed it around “It needs to go on your tongue”

“This is a thick paste” Corazón said, looking at the green goop coming off the wooden spoon “You expect me to put this in my mouth?”

“It’s the only way it’ll work” she said, matter-of-factly “And Dob, don’t worry, it’s all natural”

Dob gave a thumbs up as everyone passed around the tincture, it was thick with a foul odor that made Corazón want to throw up all over again, but soon it felt warm, like drinking rum without the side effects.  He was able to stand up without feeling like his head would explode, lights weren’t so bright anymore and his stomach was no longer crashing worse than ocean waves.

“Mer, that was disgusting” Corazón said “But it worked really well.”

She gave a curtsy in thanks and tended to her friends and their various stages of hangover.

That morning went on well, the sun shining on the deck through a break in the clouds, the adventurers each involved in their own pass times, Egbert juggling bombs on the deck, Prudence catching up on her reading.

All was well.

Until he found the letter...

The rest of the crew heard him swearing from the captain’s quarters, and looked at each other in confusion.

“Did he stub his toe again?” Dob asked

“I’m not going in there to find out, last time he screamed from the cabin he accidentally punched himself in the groin” Egbert said, frowning and taking a break from his bomb juggling.

Corazón’s screams were audible across the harbor, so much so that many of the passersby looked up at The Joyful Damnation in confusion and dismay, after ten minutes, Corazón finally came out of the cabin, brandishing an envelope angrily and glaring at his crew. 

“ _Who?”_ He said, his eyes squinting in anger.

“What’s up buddy?” Dob asked, a cheerful grin on his face

“Who let him on my ship?”

“Let who?” Dob asked

Corazón approached Dob and smacked him over the head with the parchment.  “That mail boy, that _devil child”_

“Corazón, don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic?” Merilwen asked “What could he have possibly delivered that’s so bad?”

“Is it another black spot?” Egbert asked

“I hope so” Prudence chimed in “I had so much fun killing all those pirates last time”

Corazón groaned loud enough to get them to all stop their chattering, he loudly stomped his foot on the deck “Who let that damn child on here?” he asked once more

"Nobody did, we were all asleep.. They come really early in the morning" 

"Well one of them came, found me and delivered _this_ letter" He brandished it again to emphasize his point. Everyone looked at him.

“Is it a party invitation?”

“ _Is_ it another black spot?” Prudence asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.

“No, it’s not… I wish it were, blood thirsty pirates I can deal with, but of course it’s not. It’s only my bloody father”

"Is he reconsidering adopting us?!?" Dob asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement

"What? No..." Corazón raised an eyebrow "He's...according to this letter he is moving to a even bigger mansion and wants me to come by and pick up my stuff."

"You left your belongings?"

"Uh, yeah.. It's called 'running away' for a reason" He smacked the letter over Dob's head again.  Dob winced and rubbed the spot while Corazón paced around on the deck.

“Why not just get it over with?” Egbert asked

“Because what if he’s there and I have to talk to him?” Corazón said with a shudder

“Presumably he’s going to be there, he lives there” Dob said

Merilwen gave a little sigh and nudged Dob “He’s sensitive about his father, Dob.”

Corazón scoffed at the wood elf and stepped up to the map table, bending over to look at the easiest route to get where he needed to go “I’m not sensitive about my father, Merilwen, if you must know”

Dob nodded “Yeah! We achieved closure”

Everyone agreed with Dob, but Merilwen frowned as she watched Corazón charting a path, he pulled away from the map table and everyone prepared to get the ship ready to go. When they were ready, Corazón put his hands on the ships wheel and sighed deeply, he stared at the wheel for a moment.

“Are you okay?” Merilwen asked, looking up at him from the deck

Corazón shook himself and gave the wood elf a smile “Sure!” He raised his voice to the rest of them “Let’s head out, crew!” 

The ship disembarked in the mid-morning, the sky was starting to lose it’s brilliance and a storm was threatening to come in, anyone who was standing in the harbor would be able to see a ship with a dragon juggling bombs that he kept dropping on his toes, a bard that was strumming away on a lute, a tiefling reading from a book on arcane runes, a wood elf fixing the braids in her hair.

And a pirate, who didn’t want to go home.


	2. Lost and Wandering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the group arrives to their destination, they get separated and run into various struggles.

“Well” Corazón said as they pulled into the harbor “We’re unfortunately here”

He stepped onto the deck and sat on one of the barrels he usually kept stowed away, most of them were empty, but some had ale stored inside. He had Egbert bring this one specifically to the deck so he could sit on it.  He causally pulled out his knife and started using it to clean underneath his fingernails.

Merilwen, Dob, Prudence and Egbert exchanged looks, and then Merilwen stepped forward.  After a moment, Corazón became unnervingly aware of their eyes on him and looked up to meet their gaze.  “Uh, yes, friends?”

“Where’s your father’s place?”

He looked back to his nails “Oh right, well… uh, if you go left, right and then walk _really_ far left and then turn right again, you should be able to find it no problem. It’s large… horses everywhere.  Can’t miss it”

He leaned back, stretching out his legs and propping up his feet on the barrel across from the one he was sitting on, but he lost his balance and slammed backside first onto the deck of his ship. He hit his head and lost the grip on his knife, which sliced quickly across his palm.

“Son of a f-” He groaned, but his exclamations of pain were drowned out by Prudence suddenly bursting into laughter

“Prudence!” Merilwen said

“I’m not even sorry” Prudence said through gasps “He tries so hard to be cool and then he ends up looking stupid” She said, shifting her attention back to her book she had been reading.

Dob, on the other hand shook his head and offered a hand to his fallen friend “Here you go, buddy”, Corazón reached out with his other hand and when he righted himself with the half orc’s help. He looked down at the bleeding cut on his hand.

“This is my sword hand” he said with a frown “How am I going to do dashing rapier tricks?”

“How do you do them anyway?” Dob asked “I’ve only ever seen you fall on your bum”

“Shut up Dob, I mean it, seriously. I’m not responsible if I punch you right in the neck” Corazón said in an irritated tone “Why don’t you heal me or something?”

“Not with that attitude, buddy, you’re going to have to apologize first.”

“Dob!” Corazón shouted “I’m _bleeding”_

Dob crossed his arms and turned away from the pirate “You’re not bleeding to _death,_ are you?”

“Dob, I swear I will toss you off this ship”

“Overreaction much?” Dob said, then smiled as if he suddenly had a great idea, he walked quickly to the other side of the ship to fetch his lute, then came back already strumming out a melody, complete with lyrics he made up on the spot.

_My friend is nice_

_but also he is quite_

_angry sometimes_

\- “Dob!” Corazón shouted over Dob’s singing, but the half-orc was paying him no mind as he happily continued on singing.

_Sometimes when we hang out_

_And I suggest a cool plan_

\- “Dob!” Corazón shouted again, realizing that the bard was ignoring him, he smacked Dob’s hand and grabbed his lute from him, giving him a glare, Dob looked affronted for a moment and reached for his instrument, but Corazón pulled it away from him “No, not until you learn when to play it and when not to play it.”

“I think you’re just proving my point, Cora” He said, crossing his arms again and walking off in a huff.

Corazón set the lute down on the barrel he had just fallen off of and took a breath, he’d apologize to the damn bard later.  He stepped back up to the map table and folded the map to put into his jacket pocket. 

“So are we going to this rich guy’s house or what?” Prudence said excitedly “I’m going to nick stuff from him!”

Corazón groaned “Fine, fine, we’ll go.. and no Prudence, you won’t… You can’t just steal from The Milquetoast Manor”

This elicited a snicker from Egbert "It can't be that hard, I'd imagine"

"My father has everything organized, he's even got a _list_ of everything he owns because he thinks the help steals from him. It doesn't matter how hard or easy you think it would be to steal from my father, nobody is going to try it"

"And besides, you've met my father, he's very..." Corazón simply trailed off "Anyway, we should... get this over with"

The pirate was the first one to disembark from the ship, his coat lightly trailing across the ground, he put his hands on his hips and looked towards the ship “Ah, the majesty of The Joyful Damnation…” He took a breath “It’s not often I get to see it in all it’s glory like this”

“What are you talking about Corazón? You constantly look at your ship”

“Not from this angle, Dob”

One by one the other adventurers joined Corazón in the harbor, Prudence turned to the pirate “So where is your father’s home?”

He lifted his arm and half-heartedly pointed in a vague direction “Just follow me” He said, the group started off, and though the harbor wasn’t full of people, there were still a fair few people who would occasionally stop them and ask them for directions, which eventually caused Corazón to lose his composure for a moment.

“Does it look like I’m a tourist?” Corazón asked one of the passersby who had stopped them “I mean it, look at me, look at this coat, look at my face”

The woman squinted at him and nodded “No, I’m sorry sir, you don’t look like a tourist at all, but I don’t know what that has to do my directions… If you live around here, you’d be even more equipped to help me”

“I can help you, I know the way around here, but I don’t want to help you”

“Oh” the woman said with a grimace “You’re not very nice”

Merilwen sensing impending danger, intervened “Don’t pay much mind to the pirate, he’s having a bad morning.” She turned to Corazón and grabbed the map out of his jacket pocket “Here, you can have this map and it’ll help you get around better”

The woman beamed “Thank you so kindly, you are a truly beautiful soul!” She even took a moment to hug the wood elf while Corazón was standing by, fuming.  The woman left with Corazón’s only map.

“I am _not_ having a bad morning” He said “I’m perfectly fine, cromulent, even”

“Corazón, you yelled at everyone who asked us a simple question, you told a homeless man you were going to pick pocket him and you won’t stop whispering threatening things into Dob’s ears”

Corazón shook his head “That’s just how our friendship is, isn’t it buddy?” Corazón asked the bard as he grabbed him closer, Dob’s eyebrows raised and his expression changed to one of concern.  He looked to his wood elf friend for help. 

“Let go of the bard, I need to talk to him” Merilwen said, Corazón relented and released the grasp he had on Dob’s arm.

“Fine” He pushed forward, walking a little faster and forcing Egbert and Prudence to start jogging slightly to keep up with him, Merilwen and Dob lagged a little ways behind.

Dob frowned suddenly “Why is Corazón so upset? Is it about his father? I had thought we achieved closure on this”

“Human emotions are a lot more complex than that, Dob” She responded “Maybe there’s some unfinished business Corazón needs to do before he’s completely capable of moving forward with his life”

“Honestly, it seems like it’s always about Corazón, his old cursed skeleton friends, his father issues, his guilt over abandoning his cursed friends. There are other people here”

Merilwen gave her friend a pat on the arm, as she was too short to quite reach his shoulder “We all have our rich lives, no one person’s story is more important than anyone else’s. Corazón is our friend, we should support him in times like these.”

“What about our stories though? Will Prudence ever seek revenge on her birth parents? Will Egbert ever tell us what the deal is with his past, will you ever get a new cat?”

“I don’t think I need to _get_ a cat when I can turn into one” Merilwen mused “And about the others, I guess we’ll find out as time goes on”

“Thank you, Merilwen” He said with a smile “I really appreciate you talking about this stuff with me. I think if I tried to talk to Corazón about it, he’d get mad.”

“Is that what’s bothering you?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, but sort of” Dob said with a frown, “Don’t get me wrong, I do like Corazón, but he… he’s sort of full of himself”

Merilwen, who was just about to respond to her half-orc friend looked around, they had stopped walking in the middle of the harbor, and it was slowly filling up more as new ships came in and docked, their captains and crew alike nearly jumping into the harbor, looking for a place to settle down and get a few drinks

“Dob” She said “Where is Corazón?”

Dob searched around, using his hand to block out the blotchy sun coming from overhead “I… can’t see anyone”

“Which direction were we going in?”

“I was following you!” She said with a frown

“Well, we’ll… we’ll find them, they can’t have gotten too far” Dob said, and then as if he was remembering something he forgot, he smacked himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand and turned to run full speed back to the ship without a word of explanation.

Merilwen stood there dumbstruck for a couple of moments before chasing after him.

Elsewhere, Corazón, Prudence and Egbert were making the journey to Corazón’s old family home, though Corazón wasn’t making it easy as he kept stopping at random shops, taverns and the like, begging the other two to come in and have a drink or two with him“

“Or three” He said outside one particularly shady looking establishment.

“As much as I like taverns” Egbert began “I do think you’re dragging your feet quite a bit, why not just… get this over with and then we’ll come to the tavern afterwards to celebrate?”

“Egbert, buddy, you don’t get it.. I feel like..  I’m more in the mood to have a couple of drinks, really just sit down with my friends and have a conversation! I don’t want to go to my old house, it’s boring there… Why did we even come here?”

“You made us come here, you steered the ship here and everything” Egbert answered

“Retorical question, Egg” Prudence said, nudging the large dragon in his side, he made a slight noise suggesting the kind of pain one would get if they stubbed their big toe on a table, and smoke curled gently out of his nostril.

“Anyway, we’re going in because I’m the leader of our little group and what I say goes.” Corazón said, promptly stepping into the building, Prudence and Egbert shared a look before following him inside. They were all hit with the most disgusting smell they have ever had to endure, even worse than that of the Tanner’s Folly sewers.

“Ugh” the three of them said in unison, either pinching their noses or grasping for something out of their packs to aide in their attempts to stop smelling the horrific sour air. 

None of the patrons of the bar had noticed they had come in or had loudly shouted their disgust at the establishment as they were all too engrossed in their drinks or conversation. Corazón beckoned the other two to a booth in the back of the bar where they sat down, Egbert with slight difficulty.

“I’ll get us some drinks” Corazón said “If I can breathe long enough to make the order”

He headed over to the bar, lowering his hand from his nose and mouth, he smacked the bar lightly to get the tavern keepers attention, but what he did instead was make the glass of an angry looking orc shake slightly.

The man was a mass of muscle and dark green skin, he would have towered over even Dob, he must have been a full orc.  Corazón looked up at the man and frowned slightly.

“I’m sorry, friend!” he said jovially “Did I spill your drink? I can clean that righ-”

The orc grabbed his previously injured hand and squeezed with what Corazón had to imagine was the full force of his strength but he knew it wasn’t

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, _human_?”

“Uh.. trying to get a drink”

The orc looked around the place and caught sight of Egbert and Prudence in the last booth “Those your friends?”

“Yes, and.. we simply came here to this establishment to enjoy a drink and be on our way”

“You don’t look the type to come in this kind of establishment” The man said gruffly

Corazón huffed “Excuse me, I’ll have you know I’m no square. I’m a pirate, a criminal, a hardened rogue”

The orc squinted his eyes at Corazón for a moment before leaning back in his chair and taking a deep breath “Well well well, what do we have here?” He said, clearly satisfied with himself.

He slapped the bar and whistled for the bartender “Barkeep” he said “I’ll have two drinks, one for me and one for my new friend here” The barman nodded and Corazón though confused, started to relax.

“I know who you are, boy” the orc said “Names Tobias Redrush, and you are Corazón de Leon, you also go by a lesser known name… _Percy_ ” He said under his breath and with a slight wink.

Corazón gulped, suddenly uncomfortable aware of how close he was to the man “Uh, how do you uh… how do you know that?”

“Your father, back when he was still trying to find you to tell you off for making him look bad, he had these posters put up. You look quite different with the longer hair and the stubble, but… I saw those posters a lot, I recognize your face”

“Stubble?!”

“Look mate, I’ll keep your little secret if you help me out… I’m in kind of a bad way with your father, I’ve pissed him off and now I owe him a debt”

“I don’t have any money, also I’m not paying my father”

Tobias glared at him for a moment “I can see that you’re carrying a coin purse, which is likely full of gold coins… so, that’s a lie, and I’m not asking you to pay your father off, I’m asking you to help me stay under the radar. Your father has men everywhere, they know what I do and when I do it and they report back to him”

“So won’t they just report that you were talking to me here in this bar?”

“They won’t follow me into the bar, that’s why I spend so much time here”

“Really? I’d have assumed it was because you’re a hapless drunk”

The barman came with their drinks, setting them in front and spilling some of the liquid out of Corazón’s, Tobias reached into his deep pockets and grabbed out the money, setting it on the bar for the barman to collect.

“Be that as it may, can you or can you not help me?”

Corazón took a sip of his alcohol and pondered for a moment on this, he could very well help the man, and in return he would likely not be murdered by him, or he could be on his way with the others and get this visit to his home settled.

He decided to take the high road, to be an adult, to be the mature pirate that he always knew he could-

“Sure, I’ll help you, what do you need, friend?”

“First of all, I need you to help me piss off some guys I know, they’ve got nothing to do with the pretentious Lord, I just… they’ve been hassling me about a debt that I don’t even owe them”

“Do I strike you as the type that easily angers others?” Corazón asked earnestly, taking another small sip of his drink when he felt the orc’s hand slamming him on the back, he nearly broke his tooth on the bar from the sheer force of it.

“You’re gonna start a little bar fight for me, yeah?” Tobias said with a smirk “You see, those guys over there” He indicated a table to the far right which several men were seated, two of them were orcs, one was a human, and the other appeared to be an elf. “Those guys are a _problem_ for me, and I have enough problems… So I’m asking you to piss em off a little bit”

Corazón reluctantly nodded “Sure, I’ll… what do you want me to do?”

The orc leaned in to whisper in Corazón’s ear, a plan so preposterous and outrageous that Corazón pulled away as far as he could without falling off the bar-stool “Are you mad?”

“Oh wait a minute” Tobias said sheepishly “That’s the wrong plan, sorry… I’m a little drunk” He leaned in again, this time whispering something else.

Across from Corazón and his new orc friend, Prudence and Egbert were having a heated discussion about religion, one that wouldn’t normally be allowed if Corazón were in earshot, as he had several rules for the guild, one was that Dob was never to be in charge of money, and that Egbert wasn’t allowed to talk about being a Paladin.

“I’m just saying, your deity is responsible for a lot of murder and brutality” Egbert said, this made Prudence roll her eyes.

“Have you even met your deity?” She shot back

“I’m not going to sit here and let you insult my belief–” Egbert’s words were soon drowned out by angry drunken shouting, he turned in the booth and spotted Corazón speaking to some tough looking men.

“Oh bloody hell” Egbert said “Corazón’s got himself into trouble again it seems”

“Should we help him?”

“I mean, it would be great for my absolution, but he didn’t get us drinks…. and we gave him our gold”

“KILL HIM!” Prudence shouted with her hands cupped around her mouth.

“Pru!” Egbert said, she simply shrugged

It wasn’t long before the entire bar broke out into several small fights, men and women throwing punches at each other for something as simple as a glance or a slight bump without an apology.  Drunken fists swinging and patrons jumping up onto the tables to avoid being thrown into the wall. 

Corazón rushed over to the two of them, out of breath and red-faced.

“We have to go” He said

“But we didn’t even get a drink, and that’s why we came in”

“Read the room, Egbert” Corazón said through his gasps “Let’s get the hell out of here before those guys kill me”

“Hey!” One of the orcs from the table shouted “It’s that guy! He’s the one what started all this” He jumped up onto the table and whistled loudly to get the attention of the rest of the angry patrons “Hey!” He shouted again “I’ll give ten gold bars to whoever kills that son of a-”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the patrons stopped the fighting among themselves, and all started to advance on the pirate and his friends. Corazón looked around hurriedly but couldn’t see a way to escape until he heard Tobias’ yelling for him “Come on Perc, you and your friends can get out through the back”

He ushered the three of them out a secret exit in the back and joined them in a dark and musty smelling alley “It won’t be long until they figure out how to open the front door while loaded” Tobias said from behind them “I have a place we can lay low, follow me”

Corazón looked to Prudence and Egbert and gave them a shrug “Guess we don’t have a choice, everybody follow that orc!” they all got through the passage one by one and once they were in the streets, Corazón looked back to the tavern “Should we maybe… get space between the tavern and…”

“Keep going” Tobias instructed the three of them, they followed suit until Tobias stopped in front of a run down looking building “Here, this is where I live.”

“This is gross” Corazón said as they walked through what he suspected was the front door, but the level of water damage and rust were making him doubt anything about the house was the way it should be

“Excuse me?” Tobias turned, his hands on his hips

“Uh, Grossly lavish, I mean”

“That’s better, now I have one guest room so you’ll all have to share a bed, or sleep on the floor, I bet the dragon’s used to that”

Corazón winced “Hey, can we cut back on the dragon-born racism, please?”

Tobias gave Corazón a pat on the back, which Corazón was sure was going to leave a bruise later on “You’re such a good fella for being a crook”, He chuckled.

“I am not a _crook_ ” Corazón said, gently sidling out from under the large orc’s obnoxiously strong hand “And I would appreciate it if you would stop hitting me”

“I’m just showing appreciation, Percy” Tobias said simply, crossing over to the fireplace to light it.

“Do it with less force, and don’t call me that”

Egbert and Prudence, who were continuing their religion discussion in whispers stopped to giggle. “I forgot your name was Percy” Egbert said “I’m going to call you that all the time now”

“Me too” Prudence added

While Corazón grumbled to himself, Tobias showed them around the small living space “I hide out here at least once a month, especially since your father been trying to get money out of me” He scoffed “Like the man needs any more coin”

Corazón groaned “Sounds like my father, being rich isn’t enough for him, he has to be better than everyone else too” 

He leaned against a wall and felt something crawling slowly down his neck, he stiffened up _Calm down cor_ he thought to himself

_It’s just a spider_

_it’s just a spider_

He walked across the room to the fireplace and knelt down slowly, preparing to shove his entire head and neck into the fire that Tobias had lit.  Prudence and Egbert spotted this and hurridly grabbed at both of Corazón’s feet

“What are you doing?!”

“There’s a spider on me!” Corazón shouted from the floor “I can feel it on my neck and it’s creepy and I hate it!”

While Corazón dealt with this, Merilwen was chasing her half-orc friend as he ran at neck breaking speeds to get back to Corazón’s ship “Dob!” She shouted over the noises and chattering of people in the harbor “Dob! Seriously”

When she lost sight of him she skidded to a stop “Why am I doing it this way?” She said aloud to herself with a roll of her eyes, in mere seconds Merilwen turned into a cat and bounded towards the Joyful Damnation.

Ah she thought _This is much better._

As she swerved and slid between passersby and leaped gracefully over obstacles in her way, she felt free, the wind blowing her fur. She suddenly ached for the forest, for nature, she felt like she had been at sea and in cities far too long…

She arrived at the ship too soon for her liking and reluctantly transformed back into her elf-self. Breathing in the sickening stench of the sea and harbor, she stepped on board the ship and called out for her friend.

“Dob?”

There was no answer, how did he rush that far ahead of her only to not be anywhere in sight? It’s not as though the Joyful Damnation was a massive ship, you wouldn’t be lost on it unless you could morph into a plank of wood.

“Dob?” She called out for her friend once more only to be met with total silence, she stood still a moment and heard a crashing sound from the captain’s quarters, or what Corazón kept insisting were the captain’s quarters.  She approached slowly and peering in through the doorway showed her Dob, wrecking the place up like an angry bear.

She gasped “Dob! By the name of all, what are you doing?!”

He didn’t hear her, or he did and was just ignoring her, he was tossing stuff aside, carelessly flipping over other things and ripping parchment from it’s place on Corazón’s desk.

“I mean, I know you’re feeling overshadowed by Corazón but… this isn’t the way to deal with it”

Dob finally stopped after leaning over a chest filled with Corazón’s things, he triumphantly held a small sketch of Corazón that appeared to have originally belonged to part of a wanted poster.  “I wasn’t wrecking Corazón’s things because I was mad at him, I was wrecking his things because I wanted to find _this_ ”

“What exactly do you plan to do with a photo of Corazón?”

“Show it to people!” He said “We could… we could maybe see if people around here have seen where he went. And I remembered that Cor had this from when he ripped it off that old wanted poster back in Casterfalls”

“Why don’t we just go to Corazón’s manor and talk to his father?” Merilwen suggested

“What good is that going to do?” Dob asked, pushing himself up to his feet and wading through the now trashed quarters back onto the deck to join Merilwen.  She shrugged “I don’t know, but it’s getting kind of dark and we could be asking around for hours about it…. We don’t even know if anyone saw him and the others”

“We’ll never know if we don’t try it!” Dob began to rush off the ship back to the harbor when Merilwen stopped him

“We could just ask them where the Milquetoast Manor is”

“OH MY GOODNESS” Dob shouted loud enough for several passersby to turn their heads “I mean, oh my goodness, we should have done that before!”

“That was always my plan, Dob!”

“What about that dumb plan about showing Corazón’s photo to people until we found someone who saw him even though I told you how unlikely that plan was to work?”

Merilwen groaned and grabbed Dob by the sleeve of his shirt, surprisingly strong for an elf, she dragged him off the ship and gave him a look “Put that back”

“I’ll just… put it in my pocket” He said, shoving the sketch of Corazón in his adventure pack and grinning at his elf friend “Let’s find this manor!”

“Ugh” Merilwen said as the two adventurers set off through the harbor, they came upon a tavern that looked like it had some trouble as several people were standing outside, and the tavern keeper was shooing them away with a broom

“No!” The man said “You are NOT allowed in my establishment anymore, you’re always starting fights and witch hunts, I won’t have it no more”

“But _sir!_ ” the obviously drunken man slurred in response

“No buts… I don’t care… And some mob you have going, you gave up about five seconds after they got away”

“Nah, I have my boys on it… They’re out there, searching the streets and I just wanna get a drink” The man was swaying on the spot and slurring his words even heavier than before.

Dob gave Merilwen a worried look “They look busy” He whispered

Merilwen shook her head “Just wait for that drunk guy to go away and we’ll ask that man if he knows where the manor is”

They continued watching the scene in front of them, the bar man got angrier and threw the broom at the drunkard, causing him and the two friends he had by his side to scatter.

“I’ll come back tomorrow!” He said in a heavy slurr and the bar man rolled his eyes heavily, Merilwen pinched Dob as a signal to go and they approached the man while he retrieved his broom.

“Hi” Merilwen said, a friendly smile on her face

“Hello?” The man answered in a gruff and irritated voice

“We’re sorry to bother you but we’re not from around here and uh… we were just wondering if you knew where the Milquetoast Manor is?”

The bar man sighed “It’s uh, it’s up on the hill but it’s a bit hard to get to from here, why don’t you two come on inside and I can draw up a map for you.”

Merilwen looked at Dob with a smile as they followed the man inside his bar, the place looked entirely wrecked up, glass littered the floor and the overpowering smell of poured out rum smacked them in the face the moment they walked in, which was covering up some rotten cheese smell.

“Place is a little messed up thanks to J.C… That was him out there, the drunken idiot, I swear to Asmodeus, I don’t know what I’m going to do with him.”

“What did he do…?” Dob asked, looking around at the damage to the tavern.

“He decided to do what he always does, target some innocent folk and get pissed at them enough to wreck everything, sending a mob after the poor guy.”

“Oh no” Merilwen said with a gasp “Is the man alright?”

“Dunno, they chased him out of here. He was quite a young looking chap too” The bartender mused “Had to wonder what he was doing out here”

“Was he a baby academic?” Dob asked excitedly

The man raised an eyebrow “Huh?”

“Never mind about him, he’s forgotten his nap today.” Merilwen said, excusing Dob’s behavior “Do you need any help tidying up?”

He thought about this for a couple of seconds but then shook his head “You two seem like you have something to do, I wouldn’t want to keep you from it”

“It can wait” Dob said “It can definitely wait”

“Oh alright then!” The bar man said “Names Roddel The Brave” He sheepishly grinned “They call me that cause I fought a bear once”

“I’m Dob, I’m a traveling adventurer slash bard” He reached over the bar to shake the man’s hand

Merilwen did a curtsy “I’m Merilwen, and I’m a druid”

Roddel The Brave beamed “I’ve heard of you lot! You’re those traveling adventurers what caused all that havoc at Redcastle, You two, a tiefling and a dragon”

“Yep!” Dob said “That’s us, we also saved a spicy rat and murdered a bunch of people in a quiet town”

Merilwen nudged him in the side as Roddel The Brave cocked his head in confusion. “Don’t tell him that part” Merilwen hissed at her friend.

The pair of them helped the bar man clean up all the broken glass and righted the tipped over tables, it took nearly forty minutes, but it the place looked about brand new when they were finished.

Roddel The Brave offered Dob and Merilwen free ales on the house for the help, which they were grateful for as the work was hard, and they were very parched. “You got any food to eat?” Dob asked, Merilwen eyed him from across the table they were sat at.

“I got some stuff in the back, I’ll bring anything you fine folks like, and then I’ll get started on that map to the manor” He brought another chair over to their table, setting it down and heading to the back room.

“Dob, we’ve been here for a while… Do you think Cor and the others are at the manor already?”

“I mean, they’ve got to be” Dob said, taking a pause from sipping his ale “Where else could they be?”

“You have a point… I just… what if they noticed we were missing and went back to the ship and we go to the manor and nobody is there except that mean aristocrat?”

“We could ask him to adopt us again”

Merilwen sighed as she waited on Roddel The Brave to return with food, and the map to the manor they needed, she tapped her fingers on the table and hoped the others were alright.

 


	3. Seek You Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends turn out to be foes as the oxventure guild wanders lost through the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3, it's shorter than the original chapter 3 becaaaaaause I split it into two, I thought it would be much more dramatic if I lengthened the scene in the cabin, and the ending just was too perfect to pass up. Chapter 4 coming soon!

“Get it off, get it off!” Corazón screamed, flailing his arms around wildly, nearly punching Egbert in the face.

“Corazón, it’s gone! The spider is gone!” The Dragon-man said, grabbing Corazón by the shoulders and shaking him.

He squinted at him “I’m going to let go of you, are you going to try to burn your head off again?”

Corazón shook his head, calmly breathing through his nose. Egbert loosened his grip and Corazón threw himself into a chair away from the fire, catching his breath as he stared at the floor.

Across from him, Tobias peered out the window “Aside from that little freak out, seems like it’s dying down a bit out there” he quickly closed the curtains and turned to the pirate.

“Dying down?” Corazón leaned forward and slammed the legs of the chair into the wooden floor “I’ve been hearing shouting, screaming and drunken nonsense for the past fifteen minutes. If that’s your idea of dying down…”

Tobias simply shrugged “These drunks give up after a while, trust me, if they were still after ya, things’d be even crazier out there”

The fire roared as the four of them settled into what felt like a long evening, Prudence sat on the edge of the ratty looking mattress and took off her various belt bags and packs, searching through her stuff. She frowned “I think I left some of my stuff on the ship”

Corazón paid her no attention, he looked over at Tobias and cleared his throat loudly “Why did I agree to do this, again?” He asked the orc. 

“Because I ain’t given you much of a choice, I reckon. Them guy’s out there will kill ya if you leave, and If you don’t help me, I’ll tell everyone who you are, or kill ya.” He said with a loud chuckle.

Corazón raised an eyebrow “But If I help you with your problems, you… you won’t kill me?” 

Tobias shrugged “I guess it depends on how drunk I am”

Corazón rose out of his chair and over to the Orc, who wasn’t sitting, but standing by the window.  He crossed his arms and gave the man a stony expression “I don’t really appreciate the implied threat” 

Tobias roared with laughter and slapped Corazón on the shoulder with his big hand “You’re so paranoid, Percy! If I was gonna hurt ya, I would have done it by now”

Corazón looked at the orc’s hand and then back to him “You already have, multiple times.” 

Prudence looked up from sorting her pouches “Corazón, what are you doing?”

Corazón shook his head and casually walked back over to his chair, sitting with his hands steepled in front of him, his eyes never leaving the orc, who had a large smile on his face. “Nothing, Prudence, I’m doing nothing”

Several minutes of silence later, and the dragon crossed from the chair-by-the-fire to Corazón, “Hey, I think that fire singed you a bit” He said, reaching out a hand to touch Corazón’s coat.

The pirate grabbed him by the wrist “Egbert, I have told you several times not to touch my coat, please..”

“But”

“ _Egbert”_

“Fine” Egbert said, defeated, he went back to the bed and sat beside Prudence, who was untangling what looked like vines from her pouch.

“Corazón” Prudence began, looking up at the pirate “Why are you agreeing to help this rude jerk, anyway, is there something you’d like to tell us?”

“Yeah, a lot of things, most of them are rude though. So I’ll refrain”

“Buddy” Egbert said “I think she means… explain why the hell we’re on the run from a bunch of drunken idiots”

Corazón groaned loudly and leaned back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling “Fine, okay I’ll… explain. I went to the bar to get us drinks like the great friend and captain I am, and I met this ‘fine’ fella here” He eyed Tobias disdainfully “He was probably planning on crushing my skull, but he unfortunately knows who I am”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Egbert asked, Prudence nodded in agreement

“Are you seriously not getting it?”

The dragon-born and warlock shook their heads simultaneously, Corazón thought he heard Tobias chuckle by the window but didn’t look over to check, before he even realized Tobias had moved behind him, the man’s heavy hand was on his shoulder

“I recognized this young lad as that half-wit son of Lord Milquetoast, thought I could use him to help me get some ruffians off my back, and it worked”

“You could have used literally anyone, though” Corazón reasoned “There were a lot of people in that bar, drunker than me and willing to do anything for coin”

“I’m not paying you”

“Exactly” Corazón said, crossing his arms over his chest and shifting in the chair, trying to get the orc to remove his hand from his shoulder.

Tobias chuckled darkly “Anyway… long story short, I’ve been having some trouble with the old Lord and I thought… here’s a young man who’d make a great bargaining chip”  He tightened his grip on Corazón’s shoulder, but Corazón was quick to push away from the man, knocking the chair onto the hardwood floor.

Prudence and Egbert jumped to their feet behind him as Tobias advanced on the three of them, making a low disapproving clicking sound with each step he took.

“I thought you was smarter than that, Percy” He shook his head “You meet a strange man in a bar and you just offer to help him out no matter what he says.”

“You see, Someone saw your ship come into the harbor, they tipped me off and I paid those idiots back there to get pissed at you and run after you no matter what you said.”

Corazón slowly started to reach for his rapier, but Tobias was quick to spot it and a hideous burn appeared on Corazón’s wrist suddenly, making him withdraw his hand in agony. 

“Not so fast, Percival” Tobias said “We’re going to have a chat, no need to draw weapons”

“How did you do that?”

“He’s using some sort of magic” Prudence said, stepping out in front of Corazón “Well, I have magic too” She held out her hand and energy crackled all around her, but Corazón was quick to stop her

“Don’t do it yet, Pru… Just…. Hold back for a minute”

Tobias laughed “How cute, little tiefling thinks she can fight me… I’ll get to ya in minute sweet heart” He turned back to Corazón “When I found out about you being here, I sent one of my boys to deliver a letter to the Lord, says I’ll kill you if he doesn’t stop hounding me and my gang… Don’t know if the letters been delivered, so my plan… is to take you up there to the manor myself with a knife to your throat”

Prudence reached her arm out “Did you know it’s ten times more painful to be struck by lightning than say… stub your toe on a dresser?”

“Armoire” Corazón groaned from behind her, his hand still searing with pain, Prudence ignored his correction and stepped forward a little more, hand still outstretched “I bet you’ve stubbed your toe sometimes, haven’t you, Toby?”

Tobias thought on this for a minute “I have, several times at that. It does smart.”

Prudence let out a roar as electric swirled around her arm and struck Tobias squarely in the chest, he was knocked back into the wall with a grunt, but quickly brought himself to his feet again.  He coughed a bit and waved his hand at Prudence, she jumped out of the way of his attack and onto the mattress. Poised like an angry panther, ready to attack.

“I heard about you” Tobias said with another cough, it was apparent that Prudence’s attack was causing him some pain, but it wasn’t enough to keep him down. “A tiefling with anger problems, sounds just about right to me.  Call off your attack dog, Percy”

“If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t make someone else do it”

“Apparently you can’t do it yourself” Tobias said with a roaring laugh “I mean you can’t even reach for your rapier!”

“No, but I can do this” Corazón pushed past Egbert, leaning over and grabbing a small dagger strapped to his boot, he lunged at the imposing figure, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall back to the floor, he tried to put the dagger to the man’s throat, but Tobias was quicker, twisting the pirate’s wrist and grabbing the dagger, and in one swift motion, plunging it into Corazón’s thigh.

He pushed himself back to his feet, knocking Corazón onto his back and pointing the rapier at the pirate. 

“You think it’s going to be that easy?” Tobias asked

Corazón, who still had the dagger shoved into his leg, grunted at the orc “If I’m a bargaining chip, you can’t kill me” He tried to move away from the point of the rapier, but the pain was too intense, he looked to Egbert and Prudence, both of whom looked more than ready for their moment to attack. 

“Of course that’s true, but you really think your father is going to come after to rescue you? He did hire all those pirates to kill you, after all. I bet he wouldn’t even shed one tear if you died”

“But my friends..”

Tobias howled with laughter “You think your friends are going to help you? That’s cute”

He waved a free hand and Prudence slammed into the back wall, she grunted in pain and raised her hand against him, summoning another burst of powerful dark energy, the Orc ducked out of the way, letting the rapier go flying, where it was caught by Egbert.

“Don’t even try it, Dragon-Boy” Tobias held his hand out and focused on Egbert for a moment

“Corazón!” Egbert shouted “I can’t move.. He’s… doing something” He dropped the rapier and groaned, unable to move any part of his body forward. Tobias approached him, bending over to pick up the rapier and looking down at Corazón with a sneer.

“Looks like they are out of commission” He tried to plunge the tip of the rapier down onto the pirate’s neck, but Corazón was quick, and rolled out of the way, he let out a cry of pain as the dagger was twisted with his movements. 

The orc stepped forward once more, his hefty footfalls echoing in the empty cabin as he approached “If you think you can fight me, then fight me!”

“I don’t want to fight you” Corazón said “I just want to leave”

“Might be a little difficult”

“I’m not here to help you solve your problems with my father” He tried to put more space between him and the orc but he was now in the corner, able to see Prudence who was looking very weak, and Egbert, who was unable to move a muscle.

Tobias coughed a little and looked down at his fingers “Alright, new deal… If you leave, I’ll kill your father and all your little friends”

“Do you know what a deal is, you idiot?!

“If you think I’m not serious… I’ll gladly demonstrate” He pushed his hand forward, sending a shock-wave through the cabin and causing Prudence to knock her head against the stone fireplace so hard Corazón was sure she was unconscious.

“I can do a lot more than that, and I will… so either you help me, Or I’ll kill everyone”

He tried to think fast, but there was no escape from the cabin, Egbert and Prudence were unable to help him and he had no idea where Merilwen and Dob were, with no way to distract the orc… He braced himself for the man’s approach when a thought came to him.

Suddenly, a very loud screech filled the near-evening air, it was blood curdling and seemingly came from all around them.

The orc dropped Corazón’s rapier, he put his hands to his ears “What the bloody hell is that?!” He shouted, walking swiftly over to the window to investigate the source of the noise, the scream kept going as loud as possible over the surrounding area and Corazón took this moment to carefully sneak up behind the orc, he kneed him in the small of his back and put his retrieved rapier to the man’s throat.

The screaming suddenly stopped and Corazón heard a thud behind him, Egbert was free from whatever magic bound him “Egbert!” he shouted “Get Prudence and go back to the ship, We’re getting the hell out of here”

“No chance” Tobias grunted “I said I’ll kill you if you try to leave, leave this place… and I’ll kill your father”

Egbert steadied himself and moved to pick up Prudence’s unconscious form, he draped her over his shoulder and looked to Corazón for his next move.

Corazón groaned “Just go, Egbert. I’ll catch up to you!”

“Are you sure?”

“I have no choice”

Egbert made his way to the door, past the orc and the pirate, he looked back once more before crossing the threshold.  When the door shut, everything was quiet, his rapier was still at the orc’s throat.

He quietly let it fall to the floor and sank back.

“Fine” He said, his voice unwavering “Do whatever you want to me, but leave my friends out of this”

“I knew you’d come around, Percy” He said with a joyless laugh “Let me help you into a chair”


	4. May I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dob and Merilwen are on the trail to finding their way back to their friends, while the pirate is under pressure from his captor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short-ish chapter again, Because of the editions and revisions I'm making, some of the chapters have to be split into halves, making them shorter than they would normally be. But don't worry, long chapters returning soon.

The Druid and Bard looked at the small tavern as the lights went out and the curtains were drawn, Merilwen now carrying a map to the manor in her adventurers pack.

"Does he live there?"

"A lot of people in these areas live above their shops, It's less expensive, some people can't afford a home all their own"

"Even though I had a cabin when I was a child, I slept in the woods a lot" Dob said, looking up at the sky "I thought it'd be easier to see my sister from outside when she came back"

Merilwen noticed the smile creeping up on Dob's face as he mentioned his sister, the normal traces of sadness missing and replaced by pure happiness, which is what happened every time he mentioned his sister after their adventure in the forest.

"I'm glad you found each other again" She said, giving the bard a pat on his arm.

Dob nodded, his eyes beaming "She and I write letters to each other all the time now, I tell her of my adventures and she tells me of her studies, she asks about my friends sometimes too.. Except Corazón, she doesn't care for him"

"I like Corazón, but I understand that" Merilwen agreed "We should head up to the manor before it gets darker"

"Oh right!" Dob shouted loud enough for the wood elf to wince "I mean, Oh...right" he lowered his voice "Some people are probably sleeping"

Merilwen looked around, there were passersby going to and from shops, some shops still had their lights shining brightly on the inside, she looked back to her friend with a look "I think it might be too early for that"

"Then why did that man turn off his lights?" Dob indicated the tavern they were still standing outside of, Merilwen shrugged

"He did just deal with a lot of drunken nonsense, maybe he's closing up the shop to have a nice relaxing time by himself, like a bath, or a nice novel"

"You're a wood elf, Merilwen" Dob said to his friend as Merilwen took out the map the man had drawn for them, it was surprisingly detailed, down to information they wouldn't possibly need for the trip to Lord Milquetoast's manor, Merilwen ignored the implications of the man's knowledge of the surrounding area of the manor and headed straight down the cobbled walk, as per the instructions.

"Just because I'm a wood elf, doesn't mean I don't appreciate a relaxing time indoors, I love both sleeping in a nice warm bed and sleeping in nature. There's something calming about both, the night air and sounds of the forest lulling me to sleep"

"Don't you ever worry something mean will try to kill you?"

She shook her head "I never have to, I'm usually very good at explaining myself to the animals, to make them understand I mean no harm to them or their world"

"You're so cool, Merilwen"

"I hope we can get to the manor before dark"

"Why? We can see in the dark"

"Because we need to find our friends, what if Egbert, Prudence and Cor got separated as well? He can't even see in the dark, and he's _really_ afraid of ghosts"

"He is?" Dob asked with an eyebrow raised "He must hide it well"

"Are you serious? Do you not remember when we had that night out on the deck of the Damnation telling ghost stories? And for the rest of the night Corazón was incredibly paranoid. He almost punched me in the face because I came up behind him"

"I don't remember that"

"Well, you must have noticed all those coin bags hanging from the entrance of his captain's cabin? He told me they were filled with things ghosts hate, so they won't come in"

Dob shook his head once more "I thought he was just thinking about those skeleton pirates"

"They weren't skeletons!" Merilwen rubbed her fingers over her temples, starting to get a pain right above her eye, and to her left.

They stopped walking for a moment and Dob tried to reach over for the map, but the elf smacked his hand away "No, Dob, the last time we let you hold a map you got us lost because you were reading it upside down"

Dob frowned in response but didn't argue with her any further, the pair made their way slowly down the cobbled paths and side streets as marked on the map, and through a path that the tavern owner called a "shortcut" which took nearly forty-five minutes for them to get through, when Merilwen looked up to see if they could spot the manor, it seemed as though they were even further away than when they started

"That man does not know what a shortcut is" She groaned "Now look, we've wasted the rest of the evening light"

"Merilwen, I'm tired... And hungry, we've not eaten in ages"

"We ate over an hour ago!"

He slumped onto the ground beneath them, a nice mix of dirt and pebbles with the occasional patch of dried grass. Merilwen sat across from him "I suppose we do need a bit of a rest" She opened the adventure pack that Dob had slung over his shoulder

"Why do you not have any water in here?"

"I had to take it out to make room for Corazón's gold coins, which I was going to take to the lake district" He said, moving his arm so Merilwen could take the pack off of him. There was a moment of silence before she set the pack down and looked back up at him "There are no coins in here"

"Because Corazón caught me and threatened to punch me in the face" Dob shook his head "That guy really does have anger issues"

"Dob" Merilwen said softly "I'm your friend, you know that right?"

"Sure!"

"I think you should maybe ask people if you're going to put their stuff at the bottom of a lake"

"But Corazón's got too much stuff, and I thought that maybe he'd be happy that I was trying to help out on the ship"

"Bless your heart, Dob" Merilwen said, giving her friend a pat on the hand "Anyway, we're not staying out here too long, we'll rest up for a bit but we have to get to that manor, who knows where Corazón's gone off to"

                                                                                                                                                          -

Corazón watched as the orc tied a ripped up bed sheet tightly around the stab wound in his thigh "Do you really think you're going to get any money out of my father?" He asked

Tobias grunted as he adjusted the tightness, the pain in Corazón's leg lessened, if only because the tourniquet was tied so tightly he wasn't sure he had a leg anymore.

"I'm very persuasive"

"I somehow doubt that" Corazón said

"Alright, so that tourniquet will stop the bleeding, but I'm afraid nothing's gonna fix that attitude of yours, well actually, I _can_ fix that"

He walked away from Corazón, peering through the curtains across the room "Nice evening for it, looks like it might rain... You know what I think is funny?"

"No, but I assume you're going to tell me anyway?"

"It's really funny how people are... you humans think that you're the most important people in this world, and you're not.. You're the only human in your little friend group, among druids and warlocks... and you're completely ordinary."

"I can do magic"

The orc laughed and Corazón winced, the sound was more painful than the currently non bleeding stab wound on his thigh.

"Cute, but you know it, everyone else knows it. You're nothing compared to others, it's why you lie so much about who you are, what you've achieved"

"This is literally like the oldest trick in the book Toby, I thought you were better than that... I mean, trying to emotionally break me?" He laughed, a loud and fake one "I'd have to care about anything for that to work"

Tobias started to pace up and down the shabby cabin floors, nodding his head as if he were agreeing with an opinion only he could hear, he spoke again without looking at the pirate "Yes, of course, how could I forget.. You grew up a spoiled, privileged little brat, you wouldn't care about anything"

"You have no idea what my childhood was like" Corazón leaned forward in the chair, wishing the feeling would return to his leg and that he could reach the dagger Tobias had set on the table.

"Let me guess, sad little child had no friends, Father didn't love him and he felt underappreciated?" He stopped pacing "And now that he has friends, he feels justified in his petty hatred for his father?"

"Can you get to the point?"

"Alright, I'll get to the point" He grabbed the dagger and pressed the blade to Corazón's neck "Only a little pressure, and you'll bleed out... now listen to me and shut your sarcastic little mouth, we both know I can't kill you or else I won't get the money"

"You won't get money anyway"

"Now now Percy, play nice..." He put a gentle amount of pressure on the blade, just enough to break skin and draw blood. He took the flat side of the dagger and rubbed it against Corazón's cheek.

"Wouldn't it be poetic to drown in your own blood?"

Corazón raised an eyebrow "That's bad poetry"

"There once was a man named Corazón, I killed him and all his friends"

"That's a _limerick_ , and those are supposed to rhyme" Corazón said, with a laugh, he was quite aware that it was probably a bad idea to taunt the man whose mercy and dagger point he was at, but he was self appointing himself as a man of justice, and he was sure Tobias' bad poetic ideas were a crime somewhere in the world.

The man ignored this jab at his poetic ability, he sat down in the chair opposite Corazón, absentmindedly twiddling the dagger around his hand, and for a while a silence fell over the cabin, Corazón trying to sneak a couple of looks around to form some sort of escape plan, after twenty excruciatingly long minutes, the Orc spoke again.

"You know... I rather like that cat" He said softly, almost as if he were speaking to himself, thinking out loud maybe, but Corazón knew better. He was still trying to break him. "I think I'll keep her as a pet, for a while anyways... Then I'll skin her."

"Don't you _dare_ touch her"

"Oh, so you do care about something" Tobias chuckled and pushed himself to his feet, thudding his boots across the floor as he retrieved a long and sharp looking knife out of the top drawer of his dresser. "This is my skinning knife, Percy. Do you think she'd like it?" He twirled it around in his hand for a while, mesmerized by the tip of it, and every once in a while they caught the light of the lit torches and fireplace.

Corazón gulped "Please don't... I said I'll do whatever you want, leave my friends alone"

The orc shook his head “You weren’t cooperating with me when I asked you to, Percy.. If you do it now, it’s not genuine, it’s fake. And you know how I feel about fake people”

“No, I don’t.. We literally just met”

“I don't much care for the sass, Percy"

Corazón kicked out at him "My _name_ is Corazón" He said through gritted teeth. He tried to rise from the chair but fell quickly back down when the pain in his thigh shot down to his leg, causing a weakness in his leg that he didn't know he would be able to walk on.

"No.. remember what we talked about... If you try anything, I _will_ kill your friends"

He smiled, sitting back in his chair, the dagger lying on a table to his side "I think your little friend Dob would be fun to break, he's cheerful but there's a darkness in there, yeah..." He nodded in agreement with his own thoughts and closed his eyes as though he were envisioning it in his mind.

Corazón watched him, he hated how helpless he felt in that small cabin, usually he had an idea, usually he could talk his way out of anything, but this time.. he might just incur Tobias’ wrath.

But if he didn’t do anything…

“Now you, I’m going to save you for last.”

“I thought you weren’t going to kill me”

Corazón was simply humoring the man, maybe if he kept him talking, he’d have enough time to figure out how to get away from him.

"Changed my mind, you bother me... and I like to get rid of things that bother me." He cleared his throat "I could use you to get to your father and then..hm... Should I kill him in front of you or kill you in front him, which one is more traumatic?"

"Like you said, my father won't come.. He doesn't care about me" Corazón said, he knew he was simply saying the words to distract the orc, but there was a part of him that knew they were true, and it hurt to say them aloud.

"I mean he did hire my friends to kill me" He continued "He never cared about my interests or hobbies, it was always about what _he_ wanted.. It was always about... his haughty attitude that he was better than anyone else, even his own son"

"And I tried... I did, I tried so hard to be the son he wanted but it was exhausting... Pretending to be something I wasn't, pretending to care about these aristocrats and their dinner parties and their charity fundraisers all the while knowing nobody really cared about any of it.. It was always just about the status..."

“Did you ever consider for a minute how your father must have felt? He cared more about his status than his son, because he didn’t like you. A spoiled brat of a child who thinks what he likes and wants is more important than his family legacy?” He shook his head “You could have had it all, Percival”

"I know what you're doing" Corazón said “And it’s not going to work”

Tobias chuckled “Really now? I think it’s working better than you think, you’ll eventually break, you’ll try something and give me the reason I need to kill your friends.” he rested his hands on his knees, leaning forward to study the pirate. “I hear you’re quite the coward, hiding while your friends did the real work.  One wonders how they can even stand to be around you”

“They are my friends…”

“For now, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  All that stuff you told me just now about your father? You wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t made you” He smiled “It’s a little.. lets call it a spell.  Any questions, and you aren’t able to lie, neither is anyone else, so let the games begin”

“Do you think they actually enjoy being around you”

“Stop it”

“Answer the question”

“No, I know what you’re doing, it’s not working”

“Is it not? Tell me honestly that I don’t have you doubting yourself”

Corazón crossed his arms “No, you can ask whatever questions you want and I won’t answer”

Tobias rose from his chair, gripping the dagger in his hand and grabbing Corazón’s hand “If you won’t play the games, you get a punishment”

Corazón said nothing, he simply stared at the man almost as if he was begging him to try something, He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not but Tobias hesitated for a moment as he looked into the young pirate’s eyes, but the moment passed so quickly Corazón wasn’t even sure it had happened at all. 

“Now I’m going to ask you again, do you think your friends even like you?”

“And I’m going to tell you again, I won’t answer your stupid questions”

Tobias pulled him from the chair with an astounding amount of strength, he dragged him over to the fireplace and looked from the lit fire to the hand he had gripped tightly in his own “I think you can tell where I’m going with this”

Corazón cleared his throat “Do it, psycho, I still won’t play your games”

“I’m going to give you one more chance to do the right thing… What about your crew, the ones you left to die in that cave?”

“I didn’t leave them to die!”

“Ah, yes, they were cursed… and you were not… because you abandoned them, because you were in danger and all you care about is yourself”

“That isn’t true” Corazón gritted his teeth, he tried to wrench his hand out of the orc’s grip but the man’s strength was too much “I didn’t want to hurt them, they were my friends…”

“And yet they took the money from your father”

"Stop it" Corazón said, his eyes flashing with anger "Stop your magic, I will do whatever you want... just stop making me do this."

Tobias sighed and rolled his eyes, loosening the grip on Corazón’s wrist “Fine, you’re no fun at all. I’ll stop, but you and I are going on a little trip”

“Where?”

“Where else would we go? We’re going to Milquetoast Manor”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While there is no canon truth spell in 5e, I'm using the idea of a truth like "potion" as was used in Harry Potter, it's entirely possible Tobias put something in Corazón's drink.


	5. Compassion and Contempt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! Chapter Five redo, edits and additions abound. I've changed up the order of the scenes in this chapter and extended some of the scenes to be longer or to have a bit more exposition, the scene of Corazon and Bladeor speaking in the shop has been changed to them having the same conversation while walking back through the market because I thought it was better for time and it made more sense.
> 
> This chapter is EXTREMELY long, so we're back on the long chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Things get a tad bit emotional when our favorite pirate friend has an outburst.
> 
> Also bold of me to assume anyone from OX would ever read my stories, but hey! If you're reading this, I hope you don't think I'm writing your lovely characters in any OOC way! I'm trying to be true to them, I promise!

Egbert gently set the unconscious Prudence down on a bedroll on the floor of an old abandoned apartment that he wandered into while trying to duck away from the drunken search party. The apartment was dusty and he felt it going up his nose, if he sneezed he might attract unwanted attention.

Or he might actually sneeze fire again.

He sat against the wall and looked over Prudence. No matter how hard he shook her, she wasn't waking up, he knew she was still alive because he could feel a pulse, but he suspected that Tobias must have done something to her, some kind of magic was simply stopping Prudence from waking up. 

He frowned and took a deep breath, he needed desperately to find his books, to look through them and see what was afflicting Prudence and how he could possibly stop it or reverse it, but of course he had left all his spell and lore books on the ship. 

And it was getting quite dark out there.

He was worried about Corazón, he didn't want to leave his friend behind but he wasn't given much of a choice. He felt a ball of guilt, or fire, in his stomach.

To distract himself from the worry, he looked around the room and began to gather old broken wooden boards that were littered around the apartment and set them in the dusty fireplace, a quick exhale and a fire roared to life, shining light on the steadily dimming room. 

The windows were covered with curtains that were torn on the bottom but provided enough protection so nobody would be able to look in and spot him. 

"Prudence?" Egbert asked, closing his eyes and gently hovering his hands above her, he was going to try his healing again, this time he tried it for longer, keeping his eyes closed and his mind clear, his only intention was to heal or remove whatever magic was causing this. 

After five minutes he started to get tired, within ten minutes he lowered his hands and sighed deeply. "I know you're alive Pru, Please wake up..." He almost begged

"I wish Merilwen was here" He said aloud "She'd know what to do..."

"I mean, I know what to do, it just doesn't seem to be working" He responded to himself

He rose from the floor and peered out the window, it seemed like the drunkards were heading back to the tavern instead of watching out for Corazón, maybe this was his chance to get out and find someone to help him figure what happened to his friend.

"Prudence, I promise I'll be right back. I'm just going out to look for someone to help us, okay?" he said, no answer.

With one final look at Prudence's unconscious form, he closed the door behind him and headed out into the evening. It wasn't cold, but the wind was blowing against his face and making it hard to keep his eyes open. He saw a couple of torches being lit up the street and made his way towards the market area.

He was familiar with this ritual, most merchants would happily open their doors in the mornings and afternoons and shutter them during the night hours, but some places were far more agreeable to being night owls, especially the magic and voodoo shops. He looked around, some passersby were walking hurriedly to get back to their homes, some children skipping, possibly having broken the curfew to make their parents mad.

He couldn't help but smile a little bit at this, he remembered when he was a young boy working in the stables and how excited he would be when he finally got time off, freedom from work. He would run around in the last light and feel the wind against his face. Sometimes he felt sad remembering it, as hard as his life had been, he would always miss being a child.

He looked around the narrow streets of the market as the street lamps flickered to life, he stopped in front of one shop with an interesting purple light coming from inside of it. "The Curious Collective", he approached the door and the lights automatically went off, a sign slapped into the window, roughly written said "We're closed, go away"

"But you just turned your lights on, I saw it"

There was a banging on the door in response "Go away!" the shop owner said "Don't want customers, get out"

"If you don't want customers, why do you have a shop in the middle of a market square?"

There was a momentary pause before the man on the inside started unlatching what Egbert assumed was hundreds of locks to the door. He quickly beckoned Egbert inside and shut the door behind the dragon-born. "I apologize for my rudeness" the man said "I'm hiding"

He looked like he hadn't slept in days, rough lines sketched across his face and dark circles under his eyes, along with long white hair that looked as though it had been long forgotten.

"Oh my goodness, I'm hiding too!" Egbert said excitedly "Who are you hiding from?" 

"Some Witch who wants to curse me" He chuckled loudly "I've been in here for weeks, she won't leave me alone... writes her little notes, pins them to the walls" 

He pointed at the far wall and Egbert did in fact see that it was covered in notes, mostly parchment with creepy eyes drawn on them, made all the weirder by the strange purple light being shone from candles haphazardly placed all over the shop.

"She breaks into your shop?" Egbert asked concerned, he was a bit worried about the man's mental stability, he thought about how Corazón would deal with this man, and promptly settled on the idea that Corazón would likely try to rob the man, and then make fun of his name.

"She doesn't have to!" He said in a harried tone "Now come, tell me why you're here... Name please?"

"Egbert" 

The man scratched his head "No, I'm Fletcher, Cornelius"

"Is your name Cornelius or Fletcher?"

"I'm Cornelius, I am a Fletcher"

"You make arrows?"

"I sell arrows"

"That doesn't make you a Fletcher, Cornelius"

"Shows what you know, Cornelius" The man said, brushing his hand against an old ornate looking book that was laying on the shop counter. "Fletcher is a man who makes and sells arrows"

"But you don't make them"

The man scoffed at him and picked up the book, Egbert thought he was going to heave it at him but he just set it gently on a bookshelf across from the counter.

"I have a lot to do, I'm busy, I've got ghosts to attend to" He muttered

"Your shop is haunted?"

"Probably, we're all haunted.. Anyway why are you here?"

"I... my friend seems to have fallen under some kind of spell, she's unconscious and I can't wake her up"

"Have you tried kissing her?"

"Eurgh!" Egbert shouted "No! Ew, she's like my sister" He shuddered with disgust

"Alright, fine, fine. But I can't help you... You have to go somewhere else. There's a shop that deals with curses up the hill, it's on the street headed up to the manor" He ran his fingers nervously through his ragged looking hair and kept looking around like he was hearing noises from somewhere else.

"What's it called?" Egbert asked, losing patience with the man, talking to him was like trying to talk to Corazón when he got competitive at any number of the games they would play on the ship.

"The Far Int." He said, suddenly more aware than he had been the entire time Egbert was in his shop "The int stands for Improbable Nothing Tigers"

"That.... doesn't make any sense"

"Maybe it was ant, it doesn't matter. Go away"

"Cornelius?" Egbert said, putting his hand out and slowly approaching the man "If you... know of a place that deals with voodoo curses and hexes, why don't you go to them and get your whole... deal sorted out?"

"I can't do that, can't leave the shop, she'll come here and she'll put stuff on the walls. You know, the eyes have teeth?"

Egbert nodded and smiled at the man "I didn't know that, but now I'm going to have nightmares about it, and don't worry, I'll be able to protect you from anything, I'm a paladin!"

The man looked him over up and down and let out an unsettling laugh that sent shivers through Egbert's very soul.

"Explains how you have nothing to protect me with"

"Well, it got a little, I left it on the ship, but that's not the point. We should... get you out of this shop"

"Lets go, we're going to see my aunt" Cornelius came around the counter and grabbed a ripped up jacket from a hook

Egbert shook his head and groaned 

"No, we're not"

Merilwen opened her eyes to see the patch of sky in the break of trees on the path was completely dark, she saw stars forming constellations and quickly sat up.

"Dob" She hissed

Dob was sound asleep, curled into himself like a cat while using the empty pack he had brought as a makeshift blanket.

Merilwen gently shook her friend "Dob" She repeated

After a while Merilwen realized gentle was not going to cut it, Dob was a heavy sleeper and she wasn't about to leave him out here, nor was she about to go to a creepy manor alone.

She rolled her eyes "Dob!"

He shot straight up and looked around "Wha-what?!"

"It's night time! We have to get to the manor"

"You know" Dob said, standing up and brushing dirt off his clothes "It's probably bed time for Mr. Milquetoast by now"

Merilwen picked up her circlet and rose from the ground as well, letting out a yawn "It's Lord, apparently he's really picky about that"

"Well lets go meet the Lord! I'm sure he'll remember us!" He said excitedly

Merilwen exhaled rather sharply and turned to her friend "Uh, Dob... you do remember he was not Impressed by any of us, particularly your insistence that he adopt you?"

"Prudence was doing it too!"

"He was quite affronted by all of us, especially Corazón, I just don't want you to think that he's going to be friendly when he sees us again" 

Dob nodded, but Merilwen still caught a small smile at the corners of the bards mouth. They headed up the trail to the manor and made their way through the dark with ease. 

The rest of the journey didn't take too long, and they only stopped once on the trail because Dob got a rock stuck in his shoe, eventually they came upon a winding path that led directly to a large metal gate, beyond that gate lay the largest manor either of them had ever seen.

"Wow, this makes that spicy rat guy's mansion look like a broken down hut in the woods" Dob said, even in the dark the structure was awe-inspiring. Dob turned to Merilwen "How are we going to get in? Do you want to become a cat so I can throw you again?" He asked, referencing a very painful experience she had during All Crim's Eve.

"No" she shook her head "I definitely do not want that again", she dug around in her pockets for a while and then procured a lock-picking tool "Corazón gave me this the first day we all met, after we celebrated our adventure, he told me I had something in my teeth... and then he gave me this"

She looked at it fondly "I think it was his way of being nice"

"Anyway, we're going to pick the lock" she said, getting on her knees to level herself with the lock on the gate, even though she wasn't extremely well versed in using Corazón's lock-picking tools, it was easy enough to figure out the way the mechanism would open. The lock fell off the gate and the wood elf felt quite pleased with herself as she stood up and gave a small bow.

"After you" She said to Dob, who gave her the thumbs up sign. Both of them went through the gate and trudged along the winding path up to the manor, where they were faced with a large ornate door knocker. The house looked even more imposing up close.

Merilwen was about to knock on it when it opened and the stony face of Lord Milquetoast was staring down at her and her companion. His eyes squinted as if he were trying to tell apart two ants. 

"Ah" He said, as if realizing it was two people instead of ants, and not being too happy with his discovery. 

Merilwen was about to speak when Dob interrupted her, by shoving her to the side and right in front of the Lord's vision. "Hi!" He said, his eyes beaming and his voice loud enough to echo through the evening. He looked behind him, slightly surprised, but quickly turned back to Lord Milquetoast.

The door had shut in his face while he had been distracted, he scrunched up his face and knocked on the door, which opened again. Lord Milquetoast was still standing there with the same expressionless expression on his face, still as unreadable as Merilwen had ever seen anyone.

"Hi Mr. Milquetoast!" Dob said with a wide grin, he attempted to put his hand out to shake the Lord's hand, but the aristocrat made a slight face, he backed away a bit and cleared his throat. 

"I was under the impression that several months ago, we all had an agreement." 

"I was under the impression that rich people didn't open their own doors" Dob said

"I am expecting company" 

Dob gasped in excitement "Was it us?!" 

"I assure you, it was not"

"But we got... you see, there was a letter"

"A letter meant for my son" Lord Milquetoast sighed breathlessly "Come in, I would much rather have this be a private matter and not heard by passersby" 

"Who is going to tell anyone, the horses?" Dob asked earnestly

Merilwen pushed past him and walked into the fancy manor, it was much more immense and beautiful than she ever could have imagined from the outside. It was like the kind of a manor a well to do archaeologist would have. She was joined a moment later by Dob, who gaped wordlessly at the interior of the manor.

"Corazón grew up here?" Dob asked echoing her own thoughts "Why would he ever want to leave this? This place is amazing" 

Lord Milquetoast however, was not impressed as he stood to the side, giving them a look. "I would warn you to keep your voices down, follow me into my study."

The two adventurers obliged and followed the man into a room located right off the foyer, a simple room compared to the great entrance hall, it had several bookshelves, a fire, a banquette that stretched from one end of the wall to the other, golden sconces that presumably held candles at night, and the most beautiful desk Merilwen had ever seen. 

Lord Milquetoast sat down in the chair behind the desk and put on his classes, resting his palms on the table, waiting for someone to speak. Merilwen got the feeling he commanded entire rooms with this kind of presence, but she wasn't impressed. 

"Right" the Lord said "I sent correspondence to my son. Not to his merry little band of adventurers. Where is Percy?" 

"We actually don't know" Merilwen admitted

"Did you not arrive here with him?"

"Well, we did but... we lost him. Last we heard he was coming here though"

"If that's correct, then where is he?"

"Well, he didn't really want to come here, he was really reluctant to be here, probably because the last time you two saw each other you hired a bunch of his old friends to try to murder him, and then you said you wouldn't care if he was dead"

Merilwen nodded in agreement "Also, you were quick to come back to high society and tell everyone that he was dead"

"And now presumably that lie has been uncovered... and I have to pretend to be the doting father to the public" the Lord said, a slight exasperated sigh escaped his lips

Merilwen gasped in surprise "That is the most despicable way a father could treat a son."

"Percival was an extreme disappointment, not only to me, but to his very lineage, to nobility, to high society"

Merilwen clenched her fists in an attempt to control her anger, she was normally a very peaceful Druid, and one with nature and all things interconnected within nature, but if there was one thing she couldn't stand for, it was a bad parental figure.

"Excuse me, but at least Corazón is real and not this... fake heir to a fortune he never wanted"

Dob nodded and spoke up in agreement "And another thing, He's your son, doesn't family mean anything to you at all? You just disowned him because he felt trapped in this high society life and wanted to be free! Did you ever even consider asking why he felt that way?" 

"Did you even care?" Merilwen added

"This is between me and Percival, not you two, I shall ask you only once to leave" 

"No!" Dob shouted angrily, Merilwen was a little taken aback by this show of emotion, Dob was normally a fairly cheerful bard. "I spent so long without a family that I didn't know what it was like, and you had a family, and just threw it away because it didn't fit what you wanted? You should be ashamed of yourself." 

Merilwen came up beside him and put her hand comfortingly against his arm, the pair of them watched the Lord consider their words. 

"It's okay" she whispered to her friend 

She turned to the Lord "You have a chance to do a good thing here, Sir. You have a chance to make up for years of horrible parenting, of trying to have your son killed to save your good name... Do the right thing"

"If I help you, will you two leave?"

Dob considered this for a moment "M...maybe?" Merilwen nudged him hard in the side and he winced "Ow, yes. We'll leave you alone Mr. Milquetoast, Sir"

"Alright, What is it that you require?"

Merilwen slapped her hands together in glee "I have a spell for this, it's used to locate lost things"

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Dob asked, his mouth agape

"I was honestly waiting to see if we'd find him and the others here... But we didn’t, and since you have that photo of Corazón, we can use it as the focus for my spell... But there's some other stuff I need"

"Which are?"

"Some plants from the forest, fur from a wolf" Merilwen retrieved a book out of her pack and laid it on the Lord's desk "How are you at scavenging, Lord?" She smiled 

Tobias opened the door to the cabin, the loud creaking of said door made Corazón cringe. The Orc looked around the dark cobbled streets "Ugh, idiots probably went back to the bar, well probably not that bar."

"Quick, if you were an idiot... where would you go?" Corazón asked

Tobias responded by elbowing Corazón in the spine "Keep quiet" He yawned and shoved Corazón forward to keep him moving "Now I know normally people would tie someone up but you're not going to try to escape... not if I have anything to say about it" 

"I mean you had like fifty foot of rope back there so I'm really not sure why you didn't"

"I said shut it, jackass"

"Fine, you're call mate... So where we going?"

Tobias let out a heavy sigh "We're going to go check in with Bladeor"

Corazón stopped, causing Tobias to nearly ram right into him, the Orc quickly recovered his composure though and nudged the pirate forward

"Whose Bladeor?" Corazón asked

"He..." Tobias scratched his head awkwardly "He's uh, he's a... sword smith, calls himself The Lord of Blades"

Corazón let out a laugh in spite of himself, which was met with angry enthusiasm from his captor who yet again pushed him, this time Corazón fell down face first onto the cobbled walkway, he used his hands to protect a large portion of his face from the various jagged rocks and presumably glass that littered the street.

"I've had just about enough of your mouth, you... stay right there" He said, he turned back to the cabin and left Corazón in the middle of the dark street. Corazón of course entertained the thought of running away from the Orc, but the man simply returned too quickly for him to make it anything more than a passing thought. 

"Stand up" He said, holding the rope at an odd angle, Corazón wondered if he had ever tied anyone up before. 

"I need you to drop all your weapons"

"You idiot, you took all of them!" 

"Shut up!, now you're going to put your arms out for me so I know you're not..strapped with knives or anything"

Corazón reluctantly put his arms out, the Orc responded by doing a through check for any types of weapons the pirate may be hiding on his person. He took a moment to admire the stitchwork on the cuffs of Corazón's jacket 

"This is a nice jacket, I think I'll take it" 

"Excuse me?"

"I said, take off your jacket before I cut your finger tips off" He waved the dagger around like mad, Since Corazón had no weapons on him and felt that throwing a punch at a large orc may upset him more, he had no choice but to let it happen. He took off his jacket, reluctantly handing it over to the Orc, and was now left with the grey button up shirt he wore underneath.

The Orc studied the jacket for a moment, the cogs in his brain spinning like mad as he considered how he was going to wear it, eventually he gave up and drapped it over his shoulder instead. 

The pirate groaned “You’re going to stretch it out with your stupid fat Orc body” 

Tobias grabbed Corazón by the wrists and tightly bound them together with the short length of rope he had brought back from the cabin, he then turned the pirate around and shoved him forward once more. 

"Keep walking, ugly"

"You're one to talk, your face is mostly eyeballs!"

"What does that even mean?"

"It means you're ugly, eyeball face. And you're stupid. Why are you taking me to the manor when you said you sent someone to give my father a letter. Presumably so he'd come to you?"

"Well, I haven't heard back from my letter boy so I made the assumption the letter didn't get delivered, besides, it's so much more bittersweet to die in your childhood home"

Corazón simply rolled his eyes at the Orc’s overly dramatic nonsense, but he kept quiet.

"Have nothing to say about that, ain't ya?"

"No, I don't have anything to say about it. Because if I say anything, you'll shove me into the ground again and I already have the maximum amount of scrapes and cuts on my face, I don't need anymore"

Tobias grumbled, but he didn't shove him again, he simply nudged him forward a little bit, and the pair went on like this for quite some time, and the darker blue of the evening quickly dipped to a black shade as the light of day faded completely. 

After a bit, the pair came upon an old worn down looking shop. Corazón could barely make out the sign in the dark, but was sure it said “Bladeor: Lord of Blades”

“I assume this is our stop”

"You assume correctly, Percy"

"That's not my name"

Tobias ignored this and knocked loudly on the door of the shop, there were no lights on and no sounds coming from the inside, the Orc knocked again. 

“Maybe he’s not home” 

“I have an idea” Tobias said suddenly, he grabbed the dagger and Corazón winced until he realized the Orc was using it to cut the ropes binding his wrists together. “Just go with me here” he whispered

He stepped a little ways from the door and spoke loudly “I’m headed back home… Guess Bladeor isn’t around, maybe I’ll send him a letter instead. I’m totally going to walk home, alone, right now…” He walked several more paces around and crouched down to hide behind a low bush, which was ridiculous as Corazón could still see the top of his head peaking over it. 

"Now knock on the door!" Tobias hissed from the bushes

Corazón groaned and reluctantly knocked on the door of the shop. The little window inside the door opened and a pair of bright blue eyes met his "Hello? What do we have here?"

Corazón leaned in "Mate, I don't know how to tell you this... but there's a giant moron in your bushes"

Bladeor attempted to look sideways but Corazón snapped his fingers to get the man's attention back "Don't look, dumbass"

The man, aside from looking momentarily affronted, simply nodded. "What will you have this evening, my fine gentleman?"

"Well, you see here my good, Sir." Corazón started "I'm a haughty aristocrat and I need to buy many swords so that I can break them when I get in a bad humor" 

There was a grunting and rustling from the bushes, and a moment later Tobias stumbled out to stand beside Corazón, he clapped his large hand on the pirates shoulder "Ah, Percy my young friend, what are the odds I'd see you out here exactly where I am... I was just about to turn on home, but now that I see you..."

Bladeor squinted slightly, his eyes darting from Tobias to Corazón "Issat..." He started "Toby?"

Tobias cleared his throat "Bladeor my old friend! It's so nice to see you, I was just... heading home when I spotted my young friend here.. Say hello to the nice man, Percy"

"Hello, nice man"

Tobias nudged him in the back "Introduce Yourself" He said in a low threatening manner.

Corazón elbowed Tobias away from him as Bladeor opened the door to his shop "Hello Mister Bladeor, I'm the Lord's son."

The man in front of him let out an audible gasp, his eyes widened as he grasped for Corazón’s hands, inspecting them like they would somehow verify what he was saying. “I can’t believe my own eyes… They say you’ve been dead for months.. That you died at sea” 

"Nope, super alive. Unlike some people I know"

"Those rumors..." Bladeor said quietly as if he were uttering a swear "They were saying... you ran off to become a pirate"

Corazón let out a loud and haughty laugh "My good man, those are mere rumors.." He looked at Tobias "Now, will you let me and my fine friend here peruse your wares?" 

"Of course! Anything for the young lord."

Corazón shuddered at the words as he waited for Tobias to cross into the shop with him. Once inside, he looked around. The shop was surprisingly larger on the inside compared to it's appearance outside. He looked up at the various swords and knives hanging on the walls, it would be so easy for him to just grab one and defend himself against Tobias, easy... yes.

But Tobias seemed like just the kind of drunk to keep good on his promises, and Corazón needed to tread lightly to avoid his friends getting hurt.

"A fine establishment you have here, Mr Bladeor" Corazón said, eyeing a particularly lovely short-sword laying in a display case "This... this is nice"

Bladeor hobbled over to the display and smiled "Ah, Yes, it was quite the effort to make, there are only two like it in the entire world" He opened the display "Would you like to inspect it, my young lord?"

Corazón looked over his shoulder at Tobias, who was busy comparing the sharpness of his knife to the new ones on display at the other end of the shop "Actually" He leaned in "As much as I would love to, I'd rather see some of your smaller collection..."

Bladeor nodded "Why I think I have just the thing for you, my good man", he went around to the back of the display and grabbed a very ornate looking knife. Encrusted with jewels with a bronze handle. Corazón nearly lost his balance simply looking at the thing. He coughed, and looked back over at Tobias who was still quite interested in his knives.

"I'll have it" He momentarily forgot that his jacket was now slung over the shoulder of his captor and he frowned "Only... I've not got any coins on me"

Bladeor fervently shook his head "Not to worry my dear boy! No son of the Lord will pay in my shop. No sir. You can have this one on the house."

"Would the young lord like it wrapped, sir?"

"No, the young lord would appreciate if you'd just hand it over before that guy over there notic-" He stopped dead in his tracks as he felt the giant hand of the orc slapping his shoulder.

"Having fun, Percival?"

Corazón gulped nervously "Just looking around"

"Well, we're just about done here. We must be off to see the Lord at the manor" Tobias dug his nails into Corazón's shoulder, the action made Corazón wince and Bladeor raised an eyebrow. He looked from one to the other for a moment, and something seemed to click in his mind. 

"Tobias, my old friend" He said suddenly "I think I have something perfect for you in the back of the shop"

"We really should be going" Tobias said with a grunt, digging his nails deeper into Corazón's shoulder "It's been a long day, and it's going to be quite a late night for the young lord"

"It will take just a moment, and you won't regret it, old friend!" The shop owner flashed a smile at Tobias, who released his grip on the pirate. 

"Alright, will the young Lord stay right here while my friend and I speak in the back?" Bladeor asked

Corazón nodded, Tobias went first behind the curtains to the back room and Bladeor gave Corazón a curt nod "Whatever you need to do, young Lord, I would do it now" 

He disappeared behind the curtains, giving Corazón the perfect chance to snatch the ornate knife off the counter, he jumped over the display and steadily made his way to the curtains, carefully sneaking behind Bladeor and Tobias

"What is it you want?" Tobias grunted "I'm in kind of a hurry"

"Yes, I can assume so.... Kidnapping is quite a hurried business" Bladeor said, a somber tone to his voice

"Kidnapping?" Tobias repeated "What on earth gives you that idea?"

Bladeor tutted at the Orc “My dear old friend, you dug your nails so far into that young man’s shoulder that I saw blood… In his eyes I saw terror, not the face of a man who is free”

Tobias coughed “I don’t know what you’re talking about, we’re simply going up to see the Lord about some–”

“Cut the nonsense” Bladeor said with a scoff 

“Fine, you got me.. I have some trouble with Lord Milquetoast and I’m using his son as a bargaining chip”

"That's despicable." Bladeor spat at Tobias' feet "I've always known you to be a ruffian, to be a churl, but I have never suspected you were capable of such an act"

Tobias shook his head "I'm desperate, I ain't got much choice in the matter.. an opportunity presented itself and I took it. Percy's arrival here was an answer to my prayers"

“You have got to be the most foolish man in all the world, Percival is the Lord’s son, do you have any Idea how much trouble you’re going to be in with the aristocracy once they’ve found out what you’ve done?” 

Corazón listened to the two men speak from the shadows, the back room was just dark enough to allow him to crouch silently against the wall to make his way behind Tobias.

"Do you think I care?" Tobias said gruffly

“I think you should care a little more, especially right now” Bladeor said

Corazón took his chance, jumping out from the shadows and kicking the orc in the leg as hard as he could to bring the man down to his knees, he then placed the blade of the knife firmly against Tobias' throat "You have several options here" He whispered

Tobias groaned "And they would be?"

"I will take you to my father where you can parley with him. Under the terms of that, you will not hurt him, nor my friends, nor me."

"I don't agree to those terms" Tobias said

Corazón pressed the knife into the man's neck until it broke the skin, Bladeor winced and backed into the opposite wall.

"I'm the one with the knife, and you're the one at my mercy. Do as I say or..."

"Or what?"

Corazón scoffed "I mean, isn't it quite obvious where I'm going with this?"

"I'll kill you, duh. Like, literally what you've been threatening to do to me this whole damn day"

"You're not going to kill me, you don't have what it takes" Tobias said.

"I'm a pirate, mate.“

Tobias laughed raucously at this and he spit at the floor "A pirate? That's almost cute that you think that. I know your type, You're nothing but an aristocrat playing dress up."

"And you're nothing but a drunken moron playing with magic. Which, you seem to have forgotten you know how to use"

Tobias raised an eyebrow and called to his friend "Bladeor... old buddy, you're going to help me"

Bladeor shook his head, there was a look of terror in his eyes but his arms were crossed defiantly “Tobias, I cannot condone what you’ve done, nor what you plan to do” 

“Bladeor, it’s either help me… your oldest friend, or side this this pirate.” Tobias grunted and with the full force of his strength he pushed Corazón back into the wall, the dagger flying across the room. Tobias advanced on him quickly, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him up against the wall

"What's the little pirate going to do now? I have the upper hand!"

"That's funny" Corazón said "Because I have the lower foot"

“Huh?” Tobias didn’t have enough time to think on this before doubling over in immense pain, he was clutching at his groin while breathlessly swearing. Corazón jumped over the orc’s massive body to retrieve his dagger, he pushed past Bladeor through the curtains and started to head to the exit when he was stopped by the man grabbing his arm. 

“Wait” 

Corazón turned to see Bladeor staring at him, almost like he was seeing him for the first time 

"I ... I cannot believe this, the rumors... You're nothing but a thug, a ruffian.. “

"I'm a pirate" Corazón said "And if you want to have a fit over it, do it on your own time. I have to find my friends"

"But young Lord I..."

"Mate, I'm kind of pressed for time here, if you have something to say…"

“I’m just… how did this happen?”

“Okay when I said I was pressed for time I honestly meant it, I can explain on the way, lets get the hell out of here before he gets back up” He turned to the door and looked back again “Unless you don’t want to help a filthy pirate?”

"I.... I will not turn my back on the Lord's son. I will help you.“

The pair of them left the shop, heading back down the path towards the harbor, Corazón waited until they were a little ways away from the shop before speaking again. 

“That jackass back there? He’s got this brilliant idea that mighty Lord Milquetoast will leave him alone if he uses me as a bargaining chip. He was going to take me up to the manor and, well he kept saying he was going to kill me and my father but he’s a moron…”

He stopped walking for a moment “Do you hear something?”

“I… I don’t know”

“You either know or you don’t, blimey”

Bladeor balked at this "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to that kind of language from the Lord's son"

"Get used to it, mate."

"Alright" Bladeor said uneasily, watching the pirate listen out for a moment.

"I came here with some friends, my crew as it were. We received a letter from my father's estate saying he was moving out of the manor and to get my crap out of there." 

He took a pause to let his words sink in, Bladeor nodded “Go on”

The pair started to walk forward again, through the dark path which lead to the market square. "We came here.. ran into the lovely Orc and he tricked me into helping him, now I have no idea where my friends are because we got separated“

“But” Corazón continued “I need to find them before Tobias does”

“Where are we going? To the manor?”

Corazón shook his head "We can't head up to the manor until I find Prudence and Egbert, they might have gone back to my ship"

"To the harbor!" Bladeor shouted, almost excitedly

"Will you keep it down you imbecile?!" He smacked the man over the head with his palm

"Yes, apologies my young Lord."

Corazón sighed "This is going to be a long goddamn night, isn't it?"

Bladeor winced in response to his vulgar swearing, but he followed the young pirate as the pair headed to the harbor. 

They finally found themselves in the market square, some of the shops had lights on inside of them, but most of them were bathed in darkness and closed signs, a couple of people were walking around outside but many were huddled up inside with their families. 

Corazón turned to Bladeor "We need to be careful, I know most of his friends are drunk.. but they do remember what I look like and if I know thieves, which I think I do.. They would do anything for some gold"

Bladeor nodded "Yes, of course my young Lord"

Corazón gave him side eye, he was considering saying something to the man, but thought better of it. 

"Well the harbour is that way, my dear young Lord... But it is quite dark and the lamps out that way have been unmanageable for some time"

Corazón cursed under his breath at his inability to learn dark vision "Stupid magic, stupid spells I don't know, stupid night time" he mumbled.

Bladeor winced with every muttered swear word, his face looked as though he was slowly licking a lemon and pausing each time to reassess his life choices. This made Corazón roll his eyes at the man. He took a seat on a low bench outside one of the closed shops. “I need a moment, how late is it?”

Bladeor looked up at the large clock tower in the distance "Quite early in the evening still, my young Lord" He considered the bench for a moment and then sat upon it, his eyes betraying his worry that he was sitting in a pile of filth. He looked at the young pirate, and truly studied him. 

Corazón stared in the opposite direction, not letting on how uncomfortable the man was making him. 

Bladeor let out a soft chuckle, "I can scarcely believe you're the same young boy I watched growing up"

“You knew me as a boy? I don’t… remember you”

“I did go by a different name then, I also sold curtains instead of swords. I was the man who supplied your manor with all of it’s drapery”

"Oh, are you that man who came to our house every other month with drapes?"

"Yes, that was me. My true name is Edwin Marston, I started selling blades after my father had died, it was his dying wish that I continue his legacy as a sword smith."

“You sound like you had a good relationship with your father” Corazón mused, and almost in a whispered afterthought “Wish I knew what that was like” 

Bladeor let out another laugh, but it was a kind of joyless and bitter laughter that reflected how Corazón felt towards his father “Not really, he detested that I wanted to go into drapery instead of the family business. He always had my life planned out, but it was never a plan I wanted to follow”

Corazón watched the evening moths flying around, thinking of a way he could change the subject or simply just leave, but there was no option, he sat there listening to this man he barely remembered talk about his terrible father, he could contribute to the conversation, he of course knew what it was like to have a father who could have cared less if you died... but he sat there in silence.

He didn't know what to say.

And even if he did, he wasn't sure he wanted to say it.

"Now that I think of it, I'm rather surprised it didn't happen sooner..."

"What?"

"Your rebellion, you were always such a rambunctious child"

“I don’t…” Corazón started, then stopped speaking as quickly as he started. He watched some of the people walking by the market square fountain, and admired the way the water was foaming on the surface. “I don’t think I consider running away from that place to be rebellion.”

“What would you call it then, my young Lord?”

“Survival”

Corazón took a moment to swear under his breath, it seemed as though whatever Tobias did to him to compel him to tell the truth was still somehow effecting him, even now. 

Bladeor made a clicking sound in the back of his throat and he had a look on his face that Corazón couldn't quite read, was it contempt or compassion? Contempt for the child who refused his own legacy, or compassion for a child who barely escaped from a life he had hated?

"We need to get to the harbor" Corazón pushed up off the bench

"But my young Lord we..." Bladeor started, but Corazón shot him a warning look and the man suddenly fell into a silence, he nodded and followed the pirate as the two made their way back through the harbor and to Corazón's ship

"I didn't mean to offend you back there" Bladeor said as they walked through the moderately empty market square and headed off down the stairs to take the path down to the harbor.

Corazón ignored him and kept walking with a purposeful stride, his face set in determination, both to find his friends, and to ignore the man walking beside him.

"I simply thought that you and I... seemingly have a lot more in common than I had thought at first. I never quite realized the pain you must have went through growing up with that kind of demand, the way your father talked about you... The way he raised you, I had always assumed that you wanted that life, that responsibility... How was I to know I was wrong?" Bladeor continued, possibly in the hopes that Corazón would say something, would respond somehow.. but Corazón did not, he kept silent, not even a sigh escaped his lips.

He let the silence grow for a while before it became unbearable “You were just like everyone else, if you even looked at my face, you would have known. But nobody who ever did business with my father, who worked for my father, who visited my father, none of them ever saw it.”

“They all thought the same thing, I was happy, I wanted to be the heir of my family legacy, and nobody ever cared enough to ask me if that’s what I wanted” 

"Your father is a good man, I do hope you know that... Possibly a little misguided and a little too invested in class, but a good man..."

Corazón had enough, he spun around on the spot, causing Bladeor to almost walk right into him. "My father is a good man?" He asked incredulously

"I have known him for quite some time, my young Lord."

“You saw him for ten minutes every month, and all you ever talked about was drapes!” 

“So you do remember me?” 

Corazón ignored this “It doesn’t matter if you think you knew him, everyone hides who they are, everyone has a mask” 

"Even you, Corazón?" Bladeor asked, putting a heavy emphasis on Corazón's nom de plume.

"That isn't the same thing" Corazón said defensively "I adopted that name to.. to get away from this life, this life I didn't want, it's not a mask, it's who I am"

Bladeor nodded solemnly "Or, is it who you think you are?"

“Are you saying I should have stayed here and been the perfect heir for my father?” 

“Of course not, my young Lord. I’m simply saying that just because you didn’t want to live the life your father wanted for you, it doesn’t mean that you are living true now”

"Alright Mister smarty pants, if you're so smart... who am I truly?" Corazón asked, placing his hands on his hips and tapping his foot impatiently, Bladeor looked down for a minute, as if he were gathering his thoughts, and his thoughts were all on the cobbled stone. 

The sound of the harbor was near, but the two had stopped near the staircase leading down, during the lull in their conversation the overwhelming sounds of night pierced the quiet. 

“From my memories of you as a young man, and from my short time spent with you this evening… I think that you are quite a sad person” 

Corazón scoffed at this, crossing his arms and looking anywhere but at the sword shop owner “You lie and steal to get things you don’t need, to make a name for yourself that is unconnected to your family legacy.”

He paused for a moment

“And I believe that in some ways you’re still that same scared little boy who used to hide behind the drapes in the drawing room”

Corazón stopped tapping his foot, he gave no indication that Bladeor's words had any effect on him, he simply turned on his heel and walked away at a faster pace than the other man could keep up with.

"Young Lord!" Bladeor shouted behind him, starting to pick up speed to catch up to the pirate, Corazón turned around and grabbed Bladeor by the shoulders. 

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" He shouted

Though it was later and there weren’t many people in the area, those who were still out and about did stop and look at the scene by the staircase, a young pirate in a ripped shirt and a man with a sword on his hilt stopped in the middle of the harbor entrance. One looking at the other with compassion, and one looking at the other with contempt. 

"I traveled miles and miles away to escape being my father's heir, being a Lord, being goddamn Percival Milquetoast, When I was a child I knew that I wanted to be something more than a family legacy. I wanted to see the world and all it had to offer, not be cooped up in a stuffy old mansion sifting through dust mite ridden parchment and pretending I care about anything but myself"

He eased up his grip on Bladeor and stepped away from him "I think it would be best if you would simply return to your shop.."

"But what about..."

Corazón shook his head "No! I don't want or need your help. This is where we part ways, my friend"

Bladeor cleared his throat "I care very much for the son of the Lord, I served your father in drapes and blades and while you may not feel fondly towards him, I would feel I'd never forgive myself if I let something happen to the... to you. Percy"

Corazón looked at the man, he seemed earnest in his want to help, and his desire to not let down the aristocracy. He thought on this for a minute and then put his hand on Bladeor's shoulder, more gentle than before. 

"You can stay with me, on one condition"

"Anything at all, my young Lord"

"Stop calling me that" Corazón said with a forced smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merilwen's location spell isn't exactly canon for 5e, I am using "locate object" but merging it with another location based spell listed on the 5e spell guide. You don't "need" a photograph of the person in particular you're trying to find, but I wanted to have a reason for that sketch of Corazon.
> 
> Cornelius Fletcher's mindless ranting about eyes having teeth and a woman pinning papers to his walls are references to the many Slender: The Arrival videos on outsidexbox.


	6. Persuasive Lines of Questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egbert tries to get what he needs, but is faced with the problems of a shop owner being haunted in more ways than one, Dob and Merilwen visit an old friend, and Corazon loses something important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Egbert's theory about ghosts was actually stolen from Mike during the F1 livestream they did a while back. 
> 
> "Are you even old enough to drink" is a reference to Monkey Island, where a bartender says this same thing to Guybrush
> 
>  
> 
> "Lady Boyle" is the name of a character from Dishonored

"I again must inquire why you believe I should come along with you?" Lord Milquetoast said, his hands still resting on the desk while Merilwen was pouring over her book, she looked up for a moment to glare at him.

"Because we're looking for _your_ son. I know you don't much care for his chosen profession-" She started, but the Lord scoffed at this.

"Being a _thief_ is not a profession."

"May I ask what your profession is, Lord?" She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She wasn't what you would consider a passive aggressive or hostile person, but there was something about this man in particular, that brought out the urge a little bit.

He merely gave her a look as if he were faced with an unfortunate piece of garbage in the middle of a walking path. Something that was simply in the way.

She sighed and continued flipping through the pages of the book while Dob looked at some of the various shelves and their contents. He picked one particular book at random and opened it

"What is all this?"

Merilwen looked over at him, he was holding a large leather bound book with an emblem on it. "That looks like some sort of compendium"

“That’s Percy’s" Lord Milquetoast spoke, startling the two of them "When he lived here he had his own library, but he would mix up the books to be  pest as I had them in perfect order"

"So why is _this_ book here?" Dob asked

"Before Percy ran away, he trashed his room, the drawing room, and the master bedchambers" the Lord spoke with a voice that left no indication as to what he was actually feeling, Merilwen thought that he could have been talking about a particularly dry piece of cake he had for all the emotion in his voice, but no... He was talking about his son.

She couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for Corazón, she couldn't imagine growing up in a lavish house and feeling like you didn’t belong.

"Corazón had a library?"

"He had a lot of things" The Lord said, adding a heavy emphasis on one of his chosen words.

Dob and Merilwen exchanged a look, She shrugged and Dob cocked his head to the left. She had known him long enough to understand his non-verbal cues, and if she was honest with herself, she was a little interested in seeing Corazón's room as well.

"May we see his room?" She asked

"Pardon?"

"Corazón's room" Dob said, slamming the large book shut, causing a cloud of dust to explode over his face. He started coughing.

"And may I inquire how exactly that will help you on your... quest?" The Lord asked, but all the same he did rise from the desk, smoothing out his fancy clothes. If he were an emotive man, he would have rolled his eyes, but as it was, he simply waited for them to speak.

"If Corazón's dead, at least we'll have something to remember him by." Dob said with a wide grin, struggling from the dust.

"Quite" Lord Milquetoast said, he simply left the room without another word, Merilwen and Dob looked at each other

"Should we go after him?" Dob asked

Merilwen nodded and they slowly crept behind the Lord as he lead them up a large fancy spiral staircase and through a long upstairs hallway, at the end of this hallway was a door that creaked when the man opened it. Merilwen and Dob braced themselves.

On the other side of the door was a large space, enough for several people to claim it as their own, a four poster bed at one end of the room and several bookshelves of varying sizes at the other.

Lord Milquetoast proceeded inside the room and lit one of the oil lamps sat atop the desk, he turned towards the two.

"After Percival ran away we had the room cleaned, of course. But nobody comes in here, so there might be a bit of.... _dust"_ The Lord said, turning up his nose at the room "I will be downstairs in the drawing room waiting for whatever sorry excuse you come up with, please do not destroy anything, and also don't.... _don't_ steal anything"

"Why do you care? Cora was coming to pick this stuff up anyway, what if we just picked it up for him?" Dob asked, Merilwen responded to this question by elbowing him in the arm.

Lord Milquetoast did not respond, he simply turned on his heel and made his way back down the spiral staircase. "What is with that guy?"

Merilwen shook her head "No idea, but oh my goodness... Look at this place" She admired the beautiful ornate oil lamp for a moment and then turned her attention to the bookshelves

"I don't think I've ever seen a place this nice, this makes Arlo Mayweather's house look like…“

“Like that cave we were all in!” Dob shouted excitedly, Merilwen raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head.

"He's got so many books" She trailed her fingers over the spines of several books before she heard a strange sound coming from behind one of the books, before she could investigate further, she was interrupted by a loud creaking behind her.

Dob, ignoring all warnings from Lord Milquetoast not to touch anything, climbed up onto the bed and proceeded to jump around.

"I like this, it's bouncy!"

"Dob!" She tried not to shout, though she wasn't sure that anyone could hear anything in this room from downstairs as it were. She just didn't want to take the chance.  
  
"What are you doing?!"

"I'm just having fun!"

"This isn't _your_ room, and that isn't _your_ bed"

Dob slammed down onto the bed with a loud crashing sound, he made a face and carefully climbed off the bed "Corazón's not using it" He reasoned.

"That doesn't matter!"

"Come on, you know you want to get up here and jump around!"

Merilwen sighed "No, actually.. I think there's something behind this book."

"Like a secret other bookshelf?"

"Sure" Merilwen traced her finger over the spines of the books once more and when she heard the clicking sound she pulled the book forward, it revealed a part of the wall behind it that had been re-purposed as a sort of safe. Merilwen peered into the tiny alcove and spotted a book.

"There's a book back there, but I can't reach it" She said frowning "Dob, do you mind?"

"Sure, what do you think it is?" He reached his hand into the space and grabbed the book out, opening it up "It's a journal!" he shouted.

"Shhh!" Merilwen motioned with her hands for Dob to tone it down "Lord Milquetoast told us not to touch anything"

"No, he told us not to _steal_ anything. We're not not stealing this, just looking at it."

She shifted uncomfortably and looked toward the opened door, Dob heeded her unspoken question crossed the room to shut the door.

"We should read it"

"I don't know if that's a very good idea" Merilwen said "I’m familiar enough with humans to know that they are uncomfortable when people touch their stuff... Also, he did have this hidden in a secret safe behind his bookcase"

"Not that hidden, he didn't even have a lock or key"

"Dob, I really don't know if we should read this-"

"What if Corazón dies and we didn't read this? We'd never forgive ourselves"

"That doesn't make sense. And please stop alluding to Corazón dying! He's our friend!"

Dob flipped the book open and read from the first page aloud

_Father had another brunch today with his friends, can you call them friends? I don't know, I've never had any. They come over all the time, they drink wine, they laugh at poor people. Isn't that friendship?_

" _Dob_ " Merilwen frowned "This isn't ours to read" She looked really upset and Dob noted noted this, shaking his head “Look, Cora’s not here… and if it makes you feel better, we can just tell him we never read it, and then he can find out we did and then get mad at us later”

"That does actually make me feel better" She said

Dob went to sit down on the bed and page through the novel sized diary as Merilwen brought the oil lamp closer, occasionally they listened out for sounds of Lord Milquetoast coming back up to see what they were doing, but alas, simply silence.

_I had to endure yet another lecture from Father today, he's told me I am barred from seeing my horses, claims I have an attitude problem. I wish I could leave._

_He's left me with the help, and I can hear the horses whinnying, something seems to be spooking them but I can't go out and check, or I'd never hear the end of it from Father._

_All hail Lord Milquetoast._

Dob looked up from the book and frowned "He seemed very unhappy here", he looked uncomfortably back at the book and considered it for a moment, deciding to continue on with reading it.

_Father has guests in the drawing room today, I heard him describe me as a "perennial disappointment" to a round of laughter. They think he's joking around, truth be told, my father has never told nor received a joke in his pathetic life._

_I rearranged all the books in his library, when he goes to stick his big nose into them he won't know where anything is, the idiot, I am quite pleased with myself._

_Also, still not allowed to see the horses._

"How can someone call their own child a disappointment? I never thought I could hate this man more" Merilwen scoffed

Dob agreed with a nod as he flipped the page. This new page was littered with sketches of pirate ships, treasure and hats, with little notes in the margins and names crossed out from a list.

"Did he spend a lot of time coming up with his pirate name?" Dob asked

"It looks that way."

"That's kind of sweet"

_Today I put my feet up on the table in the drawing room, Father sees this as an act of aggression and has told me to stay in my room. I'm not a child, and he's given me a bloody time out._

_Understandably, he's opted not to send the help to my room, That's fine, I didn't want anyone to talk to anyway._

_The maid told me the other day that I could come to her house and hang around her children, they are a couple of years younger than me, but I don't... know how to talk to people, what would I say?_

_There is, as always, an urge deep within me to leave, but where would I go?_

_I walked by the harbor the other day, smelled the sweet and salty air. I watched ships come in and wondered how many of them were looking for a new home, how many of these ships were pirates?_

_I wonder about their lives, their crews and the adventures they have with each other, it's a family, of sorts... But I read a lot about the mean captain's who are strict and act as though they care not._

_When I'm a captain, I won't be like that... My crew will respect me, and I them, they will be my family._

Merilwen put her hand on Dob’s to stop him from turning the pages any further, Dob slowly closed the book and sat it beside him. He had a noticeable tear running down his cheek

“Do you think Mr Milquetoast knows that this is here?” He said, wiping at his face

She shook her head “It’s private, and obviously Corazón didn’t want anyone to know about it, we should keep this between us.”

He rose from the bed to replace the book within the secret alcove, putting the false book back in place on the shelf. He took a deep breath “I had wondered… do you remember when Corazón got that black spot?”

Merilwen nodded, remembering that Corazón’s former crew had come to kill him in revenge for a curse they had been doomed from.

"I always wondered why he was so adamant that we not hurt his old crew too much, he... he cared about them" He said slowly “I just… he acts so obnoxious and loud, and he didn’t even react when I was reunited with Suzette”

“To be fair” Merilwen said, placing the oil lamp carefully back on the table she had taken it from “He was quite high on those berries when that happened”

There was a moment of silence before Dob spoke again

"I just never thought of Corazón as an emotional guy“

“Really?” Meriwen asked, trying to keep the incredulity out of her voice “I mean you must have noticed he flies off the handle at least twice a day at the slightest provocation”

“But I never thought he was a _sad_ person”

Merilwen frowned “I guess we all have masks”

* * *

Egbert was standing outside the shop waiting for his new friend to lock up and leave with him, they were headed to a voodoo based magic shop up the hill, and Cornelius was taking his good old time checking and rechecking everything in the shop for what he called ‘listening curses’

After about thirty minutes, Egbert came back inside and grabbed the man by the scruff of his jacket “Mate” He said simply “We should probably get to that shop, then you wouldn’t _have_ to check for listening curses”

“Always watching, always seeing” Cornelius said, his eyes darting around like mad.  “I’ve looked but I cannot see”

“Cornelius!” Egbert shouted “Where is the shop?”

The man straightened up and took a breath “Oh, right… I’ll lead you to the shop”

Egbert frowned and watched the man finally leave through the door, he followed after him. As they walked they passed by several parents searching for their children in the square as they headed for the path up to the hill.  They only stopped once when Cornelius put his hand out “Stop, someone is yelling”

Cornelius was right, for once, Egbert heard a sudden shout somewhere in the distance but couldn’t make out what was being said. “It’s probably someone calling for a friend”  He reasoned, but he couldn’t help feeling like that sound was familiar in some way.

He shook it off and continued up the path with Cornelius, who had gotten quite a ways ahead of him while he was distracted, Egbert was worried that the man would wander off the edge of a cliff if he hallucinated again.  But the pair persevered up the hill and in no time arrived at their destination.

## The Farrant Shop

Egbert blinked and turned to Cornelius, who was picking at a sore on his nose and looking at the sign, the lights inside the shop were on.

“I thought you said Far _Int_ ”

“I said Ant.”

“You did not”

“Doesn’t matter, let’s go meet her”

“Who?” Egbert asked, Cornelius led the dragon-born inside the shop, the bell above the door jingled slightly and Egbert stepped into a world of awe, the lights were a deep purple and the whole shop had a Gothic aesthetic to it.

He looked around at all the decorations on the ceiling, walls and more, the shelves lined with potion bottles and voodoo dolls, Cornelius joined him in this, touching some of the objects on the shelves without a care that they may possibly be haunted or cursed

“Hey!” a woman’s voice came from the back “Stop touching my stuff!”

A young woman came into view, she had bright reddish orange hair and wore a bandana that reminded Egbert of Corazón’s, as well as a simple button up purple frock coat that brushed against the floor of the shop

“Who are you?”

“I’m Ingrid Ingersoll and this….” She put her hands out theatrically “This is the Farrant shop”

Egbert raised his eyes “It’s amazing, but.. if your name is Ingersoll, why is it called the Farrant shop?”

“Because it’s an acronym” She said with a smile

"What does it stand for?" Egbert asked, Ingrid beckoned him over to the counter where she pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote the name Farrant on it, writing words next to each letter.

"Frightful Anathema, Ritual Raven, Atrocity Nightmare Tarot" She said, clearly proud of herself “That’s my store, it represents what I’m all about”

"That's...that just seems like you picked a bunch of words at random"

"it's a family name" She said, putting the parchment away after folding it with care.

"You _just_ said it was an acronym"

"Sure, Anyway what do you want?"

Egbert looked behind him at Cornelius, the man was balking at the ceiling and occasionally poking at his eyes “We’re looking for two things, my friend Prudence won’t wake up from a magic induced sleep and he” He looked back at the man “Well he’s… really annoying”

Ingrid looked over at the man “Is he alright?”

“No, he think’s he’s being cursed by a witch and he’s afraid to leave his shop”

“Well, I have both the things for you two, if you’ll come around back with me we have an absolutely perfect item for your sleeping friend, and the annoying one too.  He seems to be suffering from what we in the business call….’paranoïa lunatique’”

She grabbed a book off the shelf and came around the front of the shop, standing beside Cornelius “This book should help his condition” She said matter-of-factly, and then without warning she hit the man in the head with her heavy looking ornate book that Egbert was sure had to be full of mystical spells.

Cornelius’ eyes rolled back into his head for a moment before he fainted and crumpled onto the floor. Ingrid, happy with her work, replaced the heavy book on the shelf and looked to Egbert “Help me heave his body on that couch, will you?”

“Sure, but I’m not entirely alright with the fact that you just knocked out that helpless man, I don’t think is helping my atonement at all”

“Helpless man? This is Cornelius Fletcher” She said “He’s the laughing stock of the entire town”

“So that _is_ his name? He told me he sold arrows”

“I don’t know why you would have assumed otherwise, what with his shop being covered in nature, magic and mystical items.  But you were wise to come here, Fletcher here only deals in ‘nice’ magic. I deal in the real stuff”

“So can you really help me, or are you just going to knock me out with a book?”

“No, I only do that to Fletcher because it’s the only way I’m able to do this” She came back around the counter and with Egbert’s help, heaved the man onto a small and low couch.  They laid him flat on his back and Ingrid retrieved a vial from her pocket.

 

* * *

 

Bladeor and Corazón continued down the stairs to the harbor, several people were tending to their ships. Corazón looked around for a minute

"What the hell" He said, Bladeor winced at the swear and stopped beside his companion "What is it, my youn... uh, Mr. Pirate?"

Corazón took a deep breath and tried to calm himself "Well, it appears someone stole my ship!"

He kicked at the jetty in anger, then let out a string of swears after hitting his foot too hard against the wood.  He looked around "Who the hell stole my ship?!" He shouted

A nearby fat man with a mustache whom Corazón assumed was the harbormaster turned around in response, he straightened himself up and walked towards Corazón "You screamed, sir?"

"Uh, yes.  Someone stole my ship! I had it docked here and now it's gone"

The mustached man nodded "Name of ship, please?"

"The Joyful Damnation"

"That's a stupid name, sir.  But yes, I do have a record of that ship docking here, it left the harbor several hours ago"

"Who was..." Corazón restrained himself from grabbing the man "Who was _on_ the ship?"

"Someone, presumably the captain"

"I’m the captain!"  
"Name, Sir?"

"Corazón de Ballena"

"Heart of the whale?" The man asked with a scoff "sounds fake, please give me your real name..."

Corazón lunged at the man, fully intending to punch him in the face, but his arm was pulled back by Bladeor, who then stepped forward.

"This man is Corazón de Ballena, the dread pirate of the seas, and if he's asking about his ship, you better find it or you won't live to tell the tale!"

The harbormaster looked slightly bored “I’ve heard all the threats pirates can throw at me, It’s a bit tired at this point.” He flipped through his parchment listlessly.

“I’ll pay you” Corazón said, the harbormaster perked up, clearly interested in the idea of payment.

“How much?”

“I don’t have anything on me right now, I was robbed and kidnapped but… I’ll give you my coin as soon as I find my ship”

“How do I know I can trust your word?”

“Because mate, you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest but me? I’m always honest, and you can trust me, Have I ever lied to you?” Corazón said with a smile

He mulled it over for a while before beaming at the young pirate “Oh, alright!”

“You could have just said you were Percival-” Bladeor started to speak but Corazón cut him off, it was useless, because the man heard him.

“Percival what?” He asked, looking down over his glasses at Corazón

“Uh, Emsworth” Corazón said with a shrug

Bladeor gave him a look before putting his hand to his temples, as if he were experiencing a blistering headache.

Corazón coughed loudly “Milquetoast…”

The harbormaster, who had been drinking from a hip flask that was attached to his belt spit out a hefty amount of rum directly onto Corazón’s face.  He then looked slightly ashamed of himself “Oh dear” He said, setting down the bottle.

“Are you alright, Mr. Milquetoast?”

Corazón looked upwards to the sky, taking in a deep breath of night air “I just want to find my ship”

“So the rumors-” The harbormaster started

“The rumors are true! I’m a feared pirate.. I rule the seas with an iron fist! I stand at the bow of my ship and scream at the stars! my vessel is magnificent and fierce and… gone” Corazón used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the rum off his face.

“I was just going to ask if the rumors of your death were true”

“Oh…”

“Yeah”

The three of them stood there in an awkward silence for a while until the harbormaster spoke again “I saw a figure coming through here earlier, they was wearing all black though so I was scarcely able to make them out.”

“Did you not even ask who it was that was taking the ship?”

“Nope, that’s not my job”

“You’re the harbormaster!” Corazón raising his voice and fist threateningly, Bladeor put a hand on the pirate’s shoulder

“Sir, you may want to… calm down” he said

“Calm down?” Corazón turned to his companion “CALM DOWN?!” He shouted even louder

“Yes”

“Oh okay, well you could have just said that to begin with.” He sighed “I… I need a drink”

The harbormaster raised an eyebrow “I never would have thought the young Milquetoast boy was such a brigand”

“I have a couple of questions” Corazón started

“Go ahead, Sir”

“How dare you” He said through gritted teeth “I am in no way, shape or form a brigand. I have a crew, I have a ship… They are both missing right now, but you can bet your barnacles that they will be back and I will be back here, showing you just what I, Corazón de Ballena am made of.”

“Sir. I believe you, you’re obviously a dangerously unstable individual”

“Thank you” Corazón gave a slight bow and a smirk, he straightened up and took another breath “You feel that air, Bladeor?” He said to his sword making companion “That’s the air of adventure, the air of a new dawn, the air of…”

He sniffed several times and then grimaced “I think I need a wash”.

The harbormaster, who had been looking in his parchment notebook, looked up to where The Joyful Damnation should have been tied up to the docks “Excuse me, Mr. Milquewood”

“Milquetoast” Corazón corrected “I mean, Ballena” He said quickly

“Sure, whatever. There is a sliver of parchment over on the docks, do you mind seeing what that is.  Didn’t notice that earlier”

Corazón obliged and crouched down to reach the sliver of paper, which was tied roughly shut with a thin rope like material, he undid the rough and thin rope and unfolded a piece of parchment with a single name on it.

_Katie Delacour_

Corazón groaned loudly “Well, I think I know who took my ship now”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news!” Bladeor said, Corazón got back to his feet and showed Bladeor the note. “Not exactly”

“Who is Katie?”

“I… uh, kind of screwed her out of some gold a while back and now I guess she’s getting her revenge.” He approached the harbormaster “Any idea where we can find Katie Delacour?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know that name”

“Do you have a ship belonging to a blonde woman with medium length hair?”

“Woman?”

“Yes, exactly like a man but looks entirely different. Have you seen her?”

“None of this is my job, Sir”

Corazón pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, he was starting to feel a painful headache coming on, it was possibly the lack of fresh water he had since docking here this morning, or the yelling, or maybe he was tired of the harbormaster’s absolute nonsense.  He took a breath before speaking again.

“I… _must_ reiterate that you are the harbormaster, the master of the harbor, you’re supposed to know everything that goes on here and everyone that comes through here. Jeez, I once met and subsequently got very drunk, a harbormaster who was much more helpful than you”

The man groaned “I suppose if you ask around the local taverns, you might be able to scrape up some information, but I don’t know her or what she looks like. Better luck elsewhere, Mr. Brushwood”

“Ballena”

“Falcon”

“Ballena”

The harbormaster simply turned away and headed back up the dock “You owe me two gold coins for the boat docking fee”

“Someone stole my ship and you’re charging me? I don’t have any money!”

“Go get some from your father, I’m sure he has quite enough to cover the charge

 

* * *

 

 

Egbert watched as Ingrid unscrewed the cap on the small viral and placed the liquid underneath the man's tongue.

"What does this do?"

"So Cornelius here was cursed _years_ back _"_ She said, screwing the vial back and placing it on a nearby small table "He got himself scorned by an ex lover... The pair of them were in a row, and Cornelius turned her father into a goat. This understandably made her angry, so she cursed him. He's got memory loss, part of the curse, but when and if he does see something that reminds him of the old love, he reverts to this state, paranoid, angry, nonsensical"

"That's awful" Egbert said "Can't you actually cure it, instead of just stopping it for a time?"

"It's more complicated than that, because of the nature of the curse we would need something that belonged to the woman, and we have no idea where she was or where she would be now. He came into our town like this, already a curse on his head." She shrugged "Also his shop is haunted."

"His shop is haunted?"

"Old Cornelius here is quite fond of a magical spirit board that claims to be able to speak to the dead, it can, and does, and he's attached a great many spirits to his shop this way."

Egbert grimaced "It sounds like he has bad luck"

Ingrid nodded "It's part of the curse" She straightened up and bustled about behind the counter "I'll get something for your friend, it should be around here.... Somewhere"

She bent down to see underneath and around the various desks and tables “Cornelius’s curse has actually messed with my father’s business”

"Your father used to run this shop?"

"No, my father used to run a horse carriage shop, he'd sell carriages for the horses, for racing"

"Horse racing?"

"It wasn't the most noble of things, but it made him a lot of money"

She nearly hit her head coming up from under the shop's counter "I'll check in the back, hang on a moment" and with this she disappeared from view, giving Egbert a moment to look around, the walls were lined with skulls that he hoped belonged to animals, but then he thought of Merilwen and how sad she would be if she saw this shop, he resolved to keep it to himself when they all reunited.

Ingrid came back around "I'm sorry, I'm having trouble finding it. I need to check the listing I have."

Egbert nodded, "Did you know that children can see ghosts?"

She reached up on a shelf and grabbed a leaflet of papers "What makes you say that?"

"Well, I mean... I think they can see them as children but when they get older and their memories start to come in, they stop being able to see them, as if they forget how or something"

"It sounds reasonable enough"

"Just think about it" Egbert said "Next time you see a child staring off into the distance at nothing, they are probably looking at a ghost"

"Spooky" Ingrid said, deadpan.

"Here it is" She said after a moment, climbing back down off the small ladder she had used to reach a higher shelf. She brought it around the back of the counter and sat it down.

Egbert rose from the couch where Cornelius lay, hopefully unconscious and awkwardly stumbled over to Ingrid "Uh" He said "I don't have... money"

"It's quite expensive, I do hope you realize"

"I can imagine, but... I mean, I lost my money when I gave it to my friend to buy me a drink and-"

Ingrid gave him a look, it was obvious she didn't believe him and she pulled the bottle closer to her "I mean" she said "I do run a shop here, and if you don't have the money then I can't very well give you this in good faith that you'll pay for it"

"But.. I wouldn't lie!" He said in earnest "I'm a paladin, being good is kind of my whole thing!"

"Right" Ingrid said "Well, thank you for visiting The Farrant Shop.... please find the door"

"Uh, I need that... Badly"

"Sure, and I need a vacation, but that's not how this world works.."

"Can I just have it?"

"Sir, you're making a mockery of my family name" Ingrid said, starting to get more irritated as she put her hands on her hips.

"You _said_ it was an acronym!"

"IT IS!" She shouted "Now get the hell out of my shop!"

Egbert shuffled his feet out the door, he watched through the window as Ingrid leaned over Cornelius and shook him to wake him up, ushering him out of the store as well, she gave Egbert a glare as the door opened "You have to leave"

"I am... leaving" He said, "It's fine!"

She slammed the door shut and started dimming the lights inside, Egbert looked at Cornelius, who was swaying on the spot.

"Are you... alright?"

"Doing better, doing better. I bet she told you in there I was cursed by my ex girlfriend"

"She did"

"She tell you who that was?" He said with a laugh

Egbert shook his head "Not to be rude, but my friend is in need of my help and I don't really care about that.. Can you help me break into her shop and steal that bottle she's got on the counter?"

"Can we maybe talk about breaking into her shop not _right_ in front of her shop?" Cornelius asked

"Good point, good point... Let's go over there" Egbert pointed to a spot across the street and Cornelius groaned "And I was the one who was saying ridiculous stuff before that antidote"

Egbert grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to a small fountain surrounded by a garden, there was a bench in the center of it, similar to the benches surrounding the market square shops down the hill. The pair sat down on the bench and Egbert looked up at the stars.

"So, I suppose you're wondering what is going on with me"

Cornelius grunted "Not really, I get the gist... you have a friend, she's asleep, looking for some antidote. Not super complicated"

Egbert seemed to ignore the man and took a deep breath "It all started with a letter...."

 

* * *

 

Corazón slumped down into a chair at the tavern, he looked at his companion who was rather out of place.

“Sir, I don’t really know why we are here, don’t we have to uncover who Katie is, get your ship back and find your friends?”

“Like I said on the way over, I know we need to find my friends and we fully will. We’ll go up to the manor after I get a couple drinks”

“Should you really be drinking at a time like this?”

Corazón shrugged “If not now, then when?” He put up his hand

“Barkeep!” The man behind the bar looked irritated, he set the glass he was cleaning on the bar and came around to the table Corazón was sitting at.

“I would like some alcohol, mate”

“Are you even old enough to drink?” the barman said with a roll of his eyes

“Uh excuse me? Do you see my facial hair?”

“Yeah, oldest trick in the book. Let me tell you what, I’ll get you some mutton, bread and cheese, and a very delicious non alcoholic drink” He said, his words dripping with sarcasm.

“I don’t have any coin on me”

The barman struggled to stop himself from cursing “You absolute… You monstrous buffoon!”

“Excuse me?” Bladeor said angrily, putting a hand against the man’s chest to stop him from beating Corazón to a bloody pulp “Do you have any idea who this man is?”

“Oh who is he now? Is he a prince from a far off land whose come here to spend his enormous wealth and treat the locals like they don’t deserve to lick the dirt of his admittedly stylish boots?”

“No”

“Bladeor can you _not_ do this?” Corazón said

In the moments that followed everyone seemed to stop what they were doing, seeing that there was a fight about to occur, Corazón tried to stop Bladeor but he had moved too fast for that and Bladeor’s fist connected with the bartenders jaw, the man doubled over in pain

“I think he broke my jaw!” the man shouted “Someone get the guards”

Someone from the far end of the tavern had gotten up to do exactly that, but another man stood up and pointed his pistol at the barkeep “Nobody does anything, or I shoot that man!”

Another person, also with a pistol pointed it at the first gunman “If you shoot him, I’ll shoot you!”

The barman rubbed at his jaw and Corazón looked from the scene the man was making on the floor of the tavern and the angry looking swordsmith standing there with his fists still clenched.  “Wow” he said in awe “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone punch someone in my honor before, now I know what pretty girls feel like”

“Enough talking!” yet another voice said, this time it was right behind Corazón and came from a woman who also had her pistol out and pointed it at the back of his head. He rolled his eyes and elbowed hard behind him, knocking the woman’s gun out of her hand and catching it in his own. He pointed it right between her eyes and gave her a shrug “I mean, your first mistake was what you just did… and if you stay, you’ll probably make a second mistake”

The woman retaliated by grabbing an unarmed patron of the bar, Corazón groaned and let a shot off into the ceiling above the woman. She screamed and let go of her temporary hostage, making the decision to flee out the tavern doors all the while screaming her head off down the street. 

He now turned to the rest of the tavern, all of the gunmen now had their guns pointed directly at him. “Look what we have here” the first man said, Corazón recognized him as one of the drunken men Tobias had paid off to chase him down.

“You’re one of Tobias’ men, aren’t you?” he asked, not lowering the pistol even an inch, his eyes darted back and forth between the two gunmen.

“And what if I am?”

“Your friend has caused me _quite_ some trouble today”

“We all have trouble, Mister”

“He poisoned my drink, tried to kill me and my friends and is probably responsible for my ship being stolen!” Corazón said, waving the pistol around “I think I have more trouble than most”

“You will, when I shoot you in the face” the first gunman said in a gruff and low voice. Corazón studied the scene, one man holding his gun directly in front, and another was more to the side. He took a breath and closed his eyes.

“What the hell is he doing?” the second gunman asked “He’s got two guns pointed at em, could shoot any minute and he’s taking a meditation break?”

Corazón opened his eyes again, and in quick succession shot the pistol out of the first man’s hand, and shot the sconce above the second man that had previously been holding a lit candle.

Before extinguishing itself on the floor of the tavern, the flame from the candle caught on the brittle hair of the second gunman and he dropped his gun in shock as he tried to put the fire out.  “Help!” he screamed “Help me, I’m on fire!”

Corazón did a stylish twirl with the gun and then shoved it into his pants pocket.

“Anyone else want to point a gun at me?”

“I do!” the barman said, still holding his jaw in agony “Get the hell out of my establishment you ruffian!”

Corazón, instead of listening to the man, jumped on top of the table and cleared his throat “I’m Corazón de Ballena, master of swordsmanship and also really good at shooting people, so don’t piss me off! Does anyone know the whereabouts of a girl named Katie Delacour?”

Nobody said anything, there were a couple of quiet mutters, as if someone wanted to speak up but was unsure of doing so.  He pulled the gun out of his pocket and shot a nearby wall.

“I’m serious, I have a gun, I know how to use it and I’m not afraid of wasting bullets”

“I know where Katie is” a voice said from below, Corazón looked down at the crowd and a small brown haired girl spoke up “But you’re going to need to get down from that table before I tell you.”  She looked to the barman

“Suck it up, this guy didn’t break your jaw, you’re just being dramatic.  Get these fine gentleman something to eat and I’ll pay for it”

Corazón jumped off the table, the wound on his thigh and the cut on his hand were hurting quite badly, looking down at his palm he could see the cut had started bleeding again, he ripped a piece of his shirt sleeve off and tightly wrapped it around his hand.

“How did you get that?” Bladeor asked

“I was.. Uh daring rapier tricks!” He said with a nod, turning to the new girl “Do you have a name?”

“I do, but you don’t get to know it.”

“Well that’s pretty vague” Corazón picked up the fallen chair and sat in it, Bladeor took the seat opposite him and the new girl stood with her arms crossed

“Why are you helping us, again?”

“Well, for one I’m sick of that barman over there, and second, Katie Delacour almost killed me, If you two are going after her… I’d be glad to help you find her”

“She almost killed you?”

“She told me she came from Tanner’s Folly with news of a wonderful treasure she had heard of up around Inkwater… When we got there, there was treasure, but she took it from me, stabbed me in the leg and ran off with it” the girl shook her head and cleared her throat “Since then, I have been following her every single move and gaining intel on her.. I’ve found out through some persuasive lines of questioning-”

“My favorite type of questioning” Corazón said, she ignored him and continued

“She’s going to be at a ball tomorrow evening, a charity ball, being thrown by the Count Edward who is celebrating his new connections with Lord Milquetoast and Katie is going to be there as a uninvited guest”

Bladeor gave Corazón a look “Charity ball?” he said with a raised eyebrow “I think you may have an in…”

“ _Not now,_ Bladeor” Corazón said hastily, giving the man a warning look. He was almost going to kick him under the table but thought better of it.

“Why is she going there?”

“She wants to steal stuff, what do you think, mate?” She said with a groan “I think that it would a good idea for us to go to this ball, we could find her, corner her… murder her…”

Corazón put a hand up “Hey, I’m all for cornering and finding.. but don’t you think murder is a bit much to be planning out?”

She scoffed “Excuse me, why are you looking for Katie?”

“Because she stole my ship”

“Uh huh, and wouldn’t you do anything to get that back?”

“Well, most things but… I like to talk to people before murdering them, and uh, we… I’ve met Katie before, and it didn’t go over well”

“Are you serious?”

He didn’t say anything, he simply smiled awkwardly and the girl rolled her eyes “Alright, you need a disguise then. Because I want you to slip into that ball, find Katie and then we can have a… what is it that pirates do?”

“Get drunk?” He offered

“No”

“Keelhauling?”

“No!”

Corazón shrugged “We do a lot, you’re going to have to be a bit more specific”

“I think she means a parley, Sir” Bladeor offered “You can have a parley with Miss Delacour, a promise not to harm her until… well, a promise not to harm her right away”

“How do you know that?”

“How do you not?” the girl asked

“I don’t speak french!” Corazón grumbled angrily

The barman came back around, a towel slung over his shoulder in a way that unfortunately reminded Corazón that Tobias still had his jacket, he brought his attention back to the barman, who looked grumpy and was rubbing at his jaw.

“Alright, what do you arseholes want to eat?”

Corazón thought on this for a moment, it had been quite a while since he had eaten and he could feel the empty sensation in his stomach growing at quite an alarming rate.

“I’ll have waffles”

“We don’t serve waffles”

“Poke some holes in some pancakes then!” He groaned “Do I have to do everything around here?”

_Some Time Later_

Corazón looked at himself in the hanging mirror on the wall of the tavern "I'm kind of shocked"

"I would be too" the bartender said, angrily scrubbing at the bar "If I had a face like that"

"Can you just shut up, mate?"

The bar had been empty for the last hour as Corazón listened to his new friends story about Katie, and he and Bladeor thought up a plan to infiltrate the charity ball.

He squinted at his reflection, he had a bruise above his eyebrow and a cut on his shoulder where Tobias had dug his nails into his skin. He also had nasty little scrapes all over his face from being shoved into the cobblestone. He frowned and poked at his nose “I think my nose is broken”

"So what exactly is the plan here?" a voice piped up behind him, he turned to look at the girl, still sitting at the table and tore himself away from his reflection "Simple" He said, sitting backwards on his chair, his arms dangling off the back of it. "We... _wildly_ under think everything we're doing and then hope it turns out fine"

"That sounds idiotic"

"It's worked for me so far" He shrugged "Minus a cut or scrape"

"I mean is this what you normally look like?" She asked "Because it... not to be rude, but you look like garbage"

"Uh, _rubbish"_

"It's not rubbish, it's my opinion"

"No, you said I look like garbage, I corrected you by saying I look like rubbish. It's fancier garbage"

"Who cares about being fancy?"

"I have a _very_ fancy coat that even though I don't have on me right now, I will have it, and if you see it, you'll get it"

"I mean you can paint over a rusted wrench but it doesn't make it prettier"

Corazón leaned backwards causing the legs of the chair to no longer touch the floor of the tavern, he glared at her from across the table. "I'll have you know that _I_ think I'm very attractive"

"Does it really count if you think you're attractive?"

"Uh, yes, self confidence goes a long way."

"I think you may be too confident, and also that might be why you're in this situation to begin with. You're too busy acting like you're the best, you forget to actually do anything worth bragging about"

Corazón slammed the chair down on the floor, causing the barkeep to throw his rag down and come around from the bar, grabbing Corazón by his arm and heaving him up out of the chair "It's time for all three of you to leave, _now_. We're closing"

"But-" the girl started

"We are _closing!"_

He dragged Corazón to the door and threw him with all his strength, which was a surprising amount for a bartender, Corazón fell onto his back, his head smacking against a metal hydrant quite hard, he winced as his vision started to blur.

“And not to be a huge cliche, but _stay out!”_ The barman yelled, ushering Bladeor out second. Their new friend hung in the doorway “Sorry, that’s… uh, I have to” She coughed “I can’t come with you”

Corazón felt woozy as the area around him was spinning, he couldn’t focus on any one thing for too long or his stomach threatened to empty, he blinked.. Trying hard to understand what she was saying, he made no progress and she slipped back inside the tavern without another word.

Bladeor knelt down beside Corazón and looked over his head “Sir, you’ve sustained quite a blow to the head, are you alright?”

“I…. don’t” Corazón’s head slumped forward and rested on his chest as he fell uncomfortably into a forced sleep.

_“So” His father spoke in a clear and concise way, like he was speaking to the help, and not his son. “I’ve arranged for you to go to the Boyle’s this afternoon”_

_Percy groaned “Why?” He asked “You know I hate Maxwell, he treats me poorly”_

_“Lord and Lady Boyle were kind enough to agree to let you visit, despite what you did last time you were there”_

_Percy laughed as he remembered his last visit, Maxwell had been dreadfully keen on mocking Percy, so instead of sitting there like a good little boy and taking it, he punched him in the eye._

_“Percy, quite down, it is quite uncouth to laugh at such volumes”_

_Percy, ever the master of sarcasm lowered himself closer to the ground and mockingly laughed in a deep voice. “Is this better?”_

_His father simply cupped his hands together and sniffed “You best get ready to leave, they will arrive with a carriage shortly”_

“Young Lord, are you alright?” Bladeor’s voice broke through and Corazón’s eyes fluttered open

“I need… something…”

Bladeor frowned “I have… I have some potions back at my residence. But it’s quite a walk to get there”

“I saw something in the back room” Corazón said with a groan “The bartenders got potions, I think some of them may be healing…”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Either walk back to your home and let me die here on the pavement, or break into the bar right beside us and _help me”_

Corazón lurched over and heaved onto the pavement, coughing lightly, he felt almost as bad as he did when Merilwen made him eat that disgusting nature paste. 

Bladeor stood by nervously twiddling his thumbs “I… I’ll do what I must, my young Lord”

Corazón groaned “Please… _please_ stop calling me that” He said, he watched Bladeor carefully sneak around the back of the tavern and lost sight of him.  His eyes rolled up to the sky, where he could see the stars shining brightly.

_“Percy, come now” his father said “Mustn’t dally about”_

_“I’m not dallying, I’m watching the sky” Percy said, crossing his arms_

_His father let out a huff of air “Percy, you are eleven years old, stop acting like a child”_

_“I don’t understand why you brought us out here only to tell me that I’m not allowed to do the thing that we came here for”_

_“We came with a group, and now you are holding that group up and we have other things to attend to, there’s a party over at the Lanchire home and I must be there to meet with new friends and contacts”_

_“Are you coming?” The voice of one of the other adults spoke from a bit away from them, she had turned away from the rest of the group and was starting to walk back “Everyone is waiting for you” She said with a smile “What’s the hold up?”_

_Lord Milquetoast shook his head “Young Percival here is being quite difficult” he said with a grimace, the woman frowned “You go on ahead, I can speak with him”_

_The Lord considered this for a moment, and then he simply walked away to reunite with the group, the woman watched him leave and then turned to the young child._

_“What’s the matter? Don’t you make your fathers life difficult enough?”_

_Percy glared at her, Father had her and her husband over quite a lot for dinner parties and other such get-togethers, she was a miserable harpy who treated him like an urchin._

_“I don’t have anything to say to you” He stressed the last word_

_“Finally, young Percival is speechless, do you know how long I’ve waited for you to shut your mouth? You have quite the attitude problem and it is in major need of adjustment”_

_“You know, I’m going to sail away from here someday, and I’m never going to come back”_

_“You are such an ungrateful little child, do you know that?” She straightened herself up and fixed her hair._

Corazón’s mind wandered again, it felt like he was swimming through memories he hadn’t thought of in years, he felt the weight of gravity pulling him down further but knew he was still lying on the pavement, occasionally overcome with waves of nausea. 

_He stood on the ship that night, leaning over the railing and looking up at the stars, a noise behind him startled him and he turned to see Merilwen leaning over on the deck, she straightened up “Sorry” She said with a friendly smile “I… Dob lost his lute string earlier”_

_He shrugged and turned back to the stars without saying a thing, Merilwen joined him, putting her arms on the railing of the ship “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”_

_“I suppose”_ _Corazón said, unconvinced, Merilwen gave him a look_

_“Are you… alright?”_

_“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”_

_“Well I… I can’t claim I know the inner workings of the human mind but you did just find out your father tried to have you killed”_

_“I don’t understand”_ _Corazón said “He had everything he ever wanted, I left… He could have just told people I died and someone else took the name” He lowered his eyes to his feet “Merilwen, don’t tell anyone this but… The day I ran away, I almost came back”_

_“But why?” Merilwen asked “Your father is quite a contemptible man from the short period of time I was around him”_

_“I was scared”_

_Corazón hesitated “I was scared of… what if I was wrong? What if I was never meant for anything but what he wanted for me? I was afraid I didn’t have what it took to be a man of the seas and…”_ _  
_

_Merilwen put her hand on his shoulder “_ _Corazón, if it’s any help at all, I think you’re a wonderful pirate, your father doesn’t deserve to have you as a son.”_

_“You don’t mean that”_ _Corazón scoffed “You think I’m a phony, just like everyone else”_

_“I’ll admit that when we first met I wasn’t fond of your brash attitude and the fact that you’re quite mean to animals.. But, over the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten to know you as a better man than that. Sometimes it’s incredibly hard to face our fears and doubts… but you did that today.”_

_Corazón looked at her, she gave him a smile_ _  
_

_“You stood up to your father, and you won.”_

_“Then why do I still care what he thinks about me? Why does it still bother me that he’s going off to high society to tell everyone I’m dead?”_

_“Maybe there’s a part of you that wants to return home some day, and that choice has been taken from you?”_

_Corazón laughed “Ha, I made a promise when I ran away that I would never set foot in that home again, and I never will”_ _  
_

_He walked away from the wood elf, but he turned back on his heel and frowned “Merilwen?”_

_“Yes?”_

_“Thank you for saying that stuff about me”_

_“I only tell the truth,_ _Corazón”_

Corazón felt a hand on him as Bladeor shook him “We’ve got to get out of here and fast” he said “That girl in there, she handed this to me through the back window, but we have to leave before the barman realizes it gone” _  
_

He tipped the vial up to Corazón’s lips, the pirate groaned “Oh, it smells awful”

“Just drink up!” Bladeor said “And fast….”

Corazón hastily grabbed the vial and downed the disgusting liquid and the next moment his head felt clearer, he still felt a little dizzy but he was able to sit up and look at his companion “Lets…get the hell out of here” Bladeor nodded and helped the young pirate back to his feet.

“The manor is up over that hill” Corazón pointed to a winding looking path, Bladeor helped Corazón steady himself

“Are you sure you’re alright to make the journey, my young Lord?”

“I’m… I’ll be fine”

“I truly hope that you’re right, my young Lord”

Corazón set ahead, still feeling quite dizzy, occasionally being assisted by the sword smith. Once they were further away from the tavern Corazón heard the distinct scream of a man who just found out that his potions were stolen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used an online acronym maker to turn Andy's surname into an acronym appropriate for the shop name, the proprietor insists it's an acronym and it becomes a running joke later on.


	7. Until I Get Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egbert and his new companion find more trouble than they expected in the search for a way to help Prudence, Meanwhile Merilwen and Dob get lost in the forest, and Corazon heads back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A month later and finally an update, bet you all thought you'd seen the last of this story, well think again you... idiots, wait. no, why am I being antagonistic. 
> 
> Thanks for being patient, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a pain in the arse to write thanks to writers block.

The trees started to sway as the wood elf, bard and aristocrat stepped into the forest, the wind was picking up and Merilwen could spell a storm brewing in the air. 

“We should be quick about this” She said “I think a storm might be coming”

The aristocrat let out a scoff from somewhere behind her, she momentarily thought about saying something in response but changed her mind, he could be as uncomfortable as could be, she didn’t care about the man, she found him to be the most contemptible man she had ever met.

“What are we looking for?” Dob asked, pulling his cloak closer around him and adopting a worried expression. 

“We need to find some very specific plants, and some fur from a wolf” She said as if reciting a paragraph from a spell book “It’s not a lot of fur, we only have to pluck it, and we won’t have to hurt the wolf to get it”

There was a creaking sound in the distance which Merilwen ignored, it was likely an animal running over a branch to get back to it’s shelter, Dob however spun around on the spot “What was that?”

“Just an animal or something, be calm, Dob” She advised her friend, he nodded but she could still tell he was rather paranoid about their current surroundings.

Lord Milquetoast was following behind them a few paces behind, looking positively affronted at the very notion of nature.  A couple of times he walked face first into a branch, after several whacks to the face he finally decided to remove his spectacles and pocketed them with a disapproving click of his tongue.

“If you don’t want to be here Mr. Milquetoast, you can go right back to your mansion”

“Lord” He corrected

“Whatever” Dob said “You don’t seem to want to help us find your son in any case, so why are you even here?”

“There’s obviously some very small part of him that must care about his son, surely” Merilwen said to her half-orc friend.

At this, Lord Milquetoast turned up his nose “I _must_ assure you, I could care very little one way nor the other if Percy is ever found, the only reason I am here with you right now is for the promise of peace”

“What a horrible thing to say about your own son” Merilwen stopped walking, she turned around to face the man with her hands on her hips.

“No wonder he was sad” Dob said under his breath, Merilwen gave him a small nudge with her elbow

“Excuse me?” The aristocrat spoke “What did your green friend say?”

“He… we found Corazón’s journal from his youth, and he was _deeply_ unhappy”

“I fail to understand what he had to be so unhappy about, he had a home, a family, a ton of money”

“I guess money doesn’t really mean that much when you don’t have anyone that loves you.” Dob said with a frown

“And…” Merilwen said, suddenly unable to look the man in the eyes and looking down at her feet instead, unable to forget the words of a broken child wishing he could escape. “He didn’t have a family” 

“But he does now” Dob said

“ _You_?” Lord Milquetoast said, the wind in the trees started picking up a lot more, pushing branches to and from and causing a howling that made the hairs on Merilwen’s neck stand up, she was used to this of course, she stepped forward and looked the man right in his eyes.

“Yes, us”

There was a moment that he said nothing at all, there was a moment that the only noise that broke the uncomfortable silence was the howling of the wind, after a few moments Lord Milquetoast simply scoffed “I believe I will head back to the manor, there truly is no need for me to be here, know that when you return, the doors will be locked”

He turned on his heel to leave, stood for a moment and then turned back to Merilwen and Dob “Um…” he said quietly

“Yes?”

“Where was the entrance?”

Merilwen looked around “Uh, It was that way” She said pointing towards a dark tunnel of trees heading in a different direction “or… that way”

Dob looked at her, mouth agape “You mean to tell me you have no idea where we are?!”

“I… I know, I just have to get my bearings”

“I suppose there’s a spell for that, too?” Lord Milquetoast said, the closest thing to sarcasm for the aristocrat.

Merilwen gave him a glare, she looked around for a spot on the ground and sat firmly on a patch of dirt, beckoning Dob to do the same, she looked up at the Lord with an eye roll “I was wrong, Corazón does have one thing in common with you”

“And what would that be?” The man asked, a doubtful expression crossed his face

“Your absolutely obnoxious sarcasm, now please Sir, sit down and shut your mouth so I can do this”

“You expect me to _sit?”_

“If you ever want to find the way out of here, you have to sit with me so I can do a grounding spell to get my bearings again”

The Lord rolled his eyes and gave the ground a look, as if it had said something dreadful to him, but a moment later was sitting upon the dirt as stiff as can be, Merilwen and Dob linked hands, and offered one hand each to the aristocrat, who made a disgusted sound before taking them.

 

* * *

 

“And I just stumbled out of there even though I felt really bad about leaving Corazón behind with that jerk, I know he can handle himself… or at least, I think he can, I’ve only really ever seen him hide behind things”

Cornelius groaned “I… I’m sorry to sound like a not very nice person here, but you have been talking for a very long time, you do realize we could have formulated a plan to break in and steal that elixir from the shop in all this time?”

“Huh, I don’t think I’ve been talking that long.”

“We’ve been sitting out here for an hour, and not to mention you never asked anything about me, the fact that I’m totally fine and aware of myself now”

Egbert sighed “I lost track of time again, always happens to me…” He trailed off for a minute

“Dragon!” Cornelius shouted

“Yes?”

“You’re doing it again, please… pay attention.”

“Okay” Egbert said “What was that stuff she injected you with anyway?”

The old man cleared his throat and sat up straighter “It’s an antidote of sorts, it works against the curse that’s on my head but it doesn’t last forever, and she’s the only woman in town who knows how to make it, so if perhaps we could not steal from her and piss her off enough to stop her from making the serum, that’d be great.”

“Then how are we supposed to get what I need for Prudence?”

“It’s your lucky night Egbert, I know a couple of places we could check out”

“But we have no money”

“That’s my own secret… Now, I think I know exactly where we can get the ingredients for that elixir”

“Why didn’t you do that earlier!?”

“Because the woman knocked me me out!” He said, slapping the dragon-born over the head “Take a class or two!”

“Ow, I did… My tutor said I wasn’t very good so I didn’t have to come back” Egbert said, gently rubbing the spot Cornelius had smacked “I’m going to have a bruise now” He said, whining a little bit as Cornelius got to his feet.

“You follow me, yeah? We’re going to go to Amelia’s”

“Amelia like Amelia Hawthorne?”

Cornelius raised an eyebrow “We couldn’t be further from Rutherglen if we tried, and, I can’t believe I have to say this, there is more than _one_ Amelia in the world, you simpleton”

Egbert stood up from the bench “I mean, I don’t mean to sound like I’m threatening you, but I can breathe fire, so maybe be careful what you say to me”

Cornelius shook his head “You, my dear boy, are a terrible paladin”

 

* * *

Corazón rubbed his eyes as he and Bladeor approached the manor, it was a looming silhouette against the night sky. He looked up at the building with a mix of awe and disgust. “I can’t believe it”

“We were were lucky to arrive here with you in such a state” Bladeor said, joining Corazón in looking at the manor.

 “No I mean, I can’t believe it… It looks exactly the same as it did when I left” He scoffed “It’s almost like I never did” Bladeor gave a nod of understanding.

“It’s an odd feeling coming back home, isn’t it?”

Corazón shook his head “This isn’t home” He approached the gate and saw the lock had already been undone, “Well, someone’s been here”

“Do you think your friends are already here?” Bladeor asked, Corazón shrugged in response.

“I mean maybe one of the servants forgot to lock the gate or something”

He and Bladeor started to walk up the winding path, Corazón was walking slower than his companion, who had to keep looking back to make sure the pirate was still there.

There were a few times when Corazón stopped walking altogether, simply freezing on the spot, in these moments Bladeor helped him move forward up the path, Corazón made up excuses about his injured leg being the reason for his slow movement, but both he and the sword-maker knew that was a lie.

After what seemed centuries, Corazón stood at the large double doors and the ornate knocker that lay gently atop them. He closed his eyes, trying to gather up the courage to knock. He pressed his face against the door, eyes still firmly closed 

“I can’t do this”  he whispered, more to himself than to Bladeor, who had come up behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You can”

Corazón pushed away from the door and shook his head “No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to see him, or talk to him or… I just don’t want to” 

Bladeor frowned “But what if your friends are in there?”

Corazón threw his arms up in the air exasperatedly “Who cares!?” He gave a shrug, and started pacing from the stairs to the beginning of the walking path “I don’t even know if they are my friends, last time I had ‘friends’ they took money from my father and tried to kill me!” 

Bladeor stood behind the pirate in silence and waited for a moment of pause to speak.

“I mean, what if my only legacy was the one I gave up when I left this place?” He kicked at the stone stairs that led to the manor

“Firstly, you make your own legacy, my young Lord” Bladeor said “And second, while I have never met your crew, you talk a great deal about them and how much they mean to you. I have doubts they do not feel that same way towards you”

Corazón rolled his eyes and pushed past the sword-maker to the door knocker once more, poised and ready to use it, to knock on the door “Lets just get this over with”

“Yes, we should… But realize your eyes will get stuck that way if you continue to roll them”

“If you would stop being a self help sword-maker I wouldn’t have to roll my eyes so much, where did you even learn this nonsense anyway? _I_ make my own legacy?” He scoffed “It sounds so put on”

Bladeor laughed “You have quite the attitude problem, young Lord”

“Well I’ll take that out on Tobias when I murder him”

Bladeor hesitated  “Murder?”

“Yes… Lets see, Tobias has drugged and kidnapped me, stabbed me, I’m tired of him and I mean if you have a problem with me murdering that asshole, I don’t give a damn” 

“You must reconsider, he… should be in jail”

“Bloody hell mate, you act like he’d stay in jail. He’s got friends in drunk places.” He turned his attention back to the house, nervously slamming one of the knockers down onto the wooden door, not quite as hard as he could but hard enough to make a noise within the house.

He waited for a few moments, there was no answer and with that revelation, the tension and anxiety that had been building within him slowly started to dissipate with each unanswered knock.

He felt like he could breathe again.

“There’s nobody home” He said, instinctively reaching to his side, and then realizing that he no longer had his coat “Damn it, my lock picks are in my coat, which that ogre has” 

Bladeor cleared his throat and looked around “Hm.. Is it possible you could fashion a lock-pick out of something, young Lord?”

“Maybe.. I don’t think there’s anything around here that’ll help though, unless…” He thought for a moment “There’s a spell for this, I remember reading about it”

Bladeor raised an eyebrow “Magic?”

“No, I’m improving my comprehension of words and vowels, yes, of course magic!” He looked at the door “I seem to remember some kind of…” He groaned “Something about a lock….”

He stepped closer to the door and looked at it, inspecting the handle and the lock beneath it. He remembered this lock, and on the inside it was just a simple latching mechanism, he knew that if he had his tools he could unlock it in mere moments.

He wracked his brain to try and remember the spell he read, he was on the deck of his ship in the sun, docked in a harbor as he usually is when they aren’t on some sort of adventure, he remembered that he got distracted because Dob was loudly playing his lute, a song he made up on the spot about how great his sister was, and something about mystery berries.

“That’s it!” he shouted suddenly, starting the sword maker. He closed his eyes and focused all of his thoughts onto the door, what it looked like, it’s stupid little obnoxious etchings, the fact that it was made of pure oak, that one time his father made the painter go over it six times because he “missed a spot” the first time.

He remembered that door, it was one of many exists within the large home, there was another door that looked quite similar inside the house, and that was the door to the extra study that his father never let him into.

Corazón remembered learning how to pick locks just to get into the rooms his father didn’t want him in, including his office, or the reading room, or the drawing room when he had guests over. 

“Sir?” Bladeor’s voice broke through his thoughts

“Shhh I’m trying to do something”

“What exactly are you-”

Corazón shushed the man again and drew his thoughts back to the door, the wood, the etchings, the lock, he drew in a steady breath and gently knocked at the air, suddenly there was a near-deafening sound on the other side of the door, as if a giant was knocking his large boot against the wood. Corazón opened his eyes.

He approached the door and pushed it, the loud knock still ringing through the halls inside as the door slowly creaked open.

“It’s open” He turned to the sword-maker “How about we go inside and see if anyone is home?”

 

* * *

“I think my shoulder is broken” Egbert said as he and his new friend made their way through a series of back alley’s, Cornelius and him had been walking for quite a while and the man was very quiet, not a very good adventurering partner, if Egbert had anything to say on the matter.

 “It’s going to be in a moment if you don’t stop complaining, I didn’t hit you that hard”

“You sound like someone I know” Egbert said “I think you’d like Corazón, he’s a pirate”

“Pirates are the scum of the earth” Cornelius said gruffly, turning another corner and nearly causing Egbert to walk straight into the back wall of another dead end

“Hey, he’s a cool pirate, he’s like… if you mixed the three coolest people on earth with the sun”

“The sun is hot, dear boy”

Egbert shrugged “Corazón’s not bad looking”

Cornelius groaned loudly and though Egbert couldn’t see it, he suspected the man rolled his eyes “Not what I meant, and… just a note, please do not speak when we get to Amelia’s”

“I can’t say hello?”

“You shouldn’t say anything, she doesn’t like people, she likes me because I helped her out of a spot of bother back in the day.”

“She got black spots too?”

“Not what I meant, but yes to that as well”

Cornelius stopped “I think the lamps are broken out this way for goodness sake, see… her house is a bit hard to find in the dark”

“Does she not have any candles lit?”

“She’s not, well… you’ll figure it out in a moment…” He started to feel around the wall of the alley while Egbert stood close behind him, he was starting to think the man’s antidote was wearing off until a click was heard and the wall of the alley moved away from itself, revealing a secret door with an ornate knocker.

“Again, I beg you, please do not speak” He said, lifting his hand up to use the knocker, but before he could a woman answered the door, she was wearing a brightly colored dress with arcane symbols as part of the design, she had three rings on her eyebrow and one ring hanging down from her nose.

“Amelia…” Cornelius started

“By the moon and stars, Cornelius? What in the world are you doing here? What happened to that paranormal business you had going?”

Cornelius hesitated “Didn’t work out, I run a shop now… And me and my friend here need your help. See, his friend won’t wake up”

Amelia smiled and beckoned them both to follow her inside, Egbert had no idea what the man was warning him about as he stepped over the threshold into what he assumed was Amelia’s home.

Everything was normal, a cozy little home with chairs arranged around a fireplace, and a woman with a hungry look in her eyes sat down, reaching over to grab a goblet of something he couldn’t see. He sat down in one of the wider chairs as Cornelius sat next to the woman

“So, Amelia” He started

“Cornelius, please… Tell me about yourself.. I haven’t seen you in years.”

“I really don’t have time for that, Mel”

She sighed deeper than Egbert thought was warranted for the situation, he kept his promise to Cornelius and didn’t say anything, instead looking around the room at all her various items which he believed Corazón would try to steal.

“Alright Con, you know how this works” She said, steepling her fingers together “I help you, you help me”

“Uh, right.. yes…” He turned to Egbert “My friend, would you please get me a cup of tea, she keeps the tea set in the bottom shelf”

Egbert found this a bit odd, but he was told not to speak, and the look in Cornelius’ eyes really made him trust the man, he obviously just needed to speak with his friend about a private matter, Egbert was sure he’d have done the same thing.  Maybe he was embarrassed about his failed paranormal business and wanted Egbert to leave the room so he wouldn’t hear.

In any case, the dragon got out of the chair with a bit of difficulty and made his way to the kitchen, he located the tea set and then as he was preparing the water he heard Cornelius shout “Absolutely not!”

He abandoned the tea on the counter top and peered out into the next room, he listened closely.

“I need compensation for my work, Con, you know this… this is always as is”

“I don’t have anyone…”

“Find someone then” Egbert couldn’t see the woman’s face because it was being partially obscured by the wall of the hallway leading out of the kitchen, but he could almost hear the smile in her tone.

“There.. There may be someone I can get for you. I don’t know him, and I don’t know where he is, but-”

“But there’s no guilt when you’re not attached” She said, finishing the thought for him “Cute, do you at least know a name? Because I could use my magic to find him”

Egbert swallowed hard, he was quite thick most of the time, but even he could tell where this was going, he braced himself for the worst

“Corazón” Cornelius said “He’s apparently a friend of that dragon I’m helping, the guy won’t shut up about all his friends, but this guy sounds like the worst”

“It’s always funner if they are bad” She said “I’ll find this Corazón, and then we’ll see what I can do with him”

“Come on” Cornelius said “Don’t do this, don’t just wait for the payment, I need help now”

“I need payment or I won’t do the job”

Cornelius groaned and grabbed a dagger out of his side trouser pocket, he sliced a deep cut into his hand and dripped it slowly into her goblet “There” He said angrily “That’s half up front and the rest you can just take from the idiot pirate”

She lifted up the glass “Thank you, now was that so hard?”

‘Will you help me?“

“Yes, yes I will.  But let me do the spell I need to do so that when I’m done with your little errand, I get to have a meal to reward myself with”

Egbert heard the whistle of the kettle and it brought him back to his senses, he poured a couple mugs full of tea leaves and coughed loudly to announce himself once more “Tea’s done” he said, giving Amelia a glare.

“I don’t believe I’ve  got your name, my child” she said

“It’s Egbert” he said, carefully setting down the tea tray on the table in front of them, nearly knocking over the goblet full of what could only be assumed was various people’s blood droplets.

“My name is Amelia, well” She giggled “It’s not, but that’s what everyone calls me anyway” She grabbed for a cup of tea and took a sip “I’ve had a great many names, actually… I’d love to tell you about it sometime, maybe over some” She chuckled “Tea?”

“We are in quite a hurry, Mel, if you wouldn’t mind” Cornelius said nervously, trying to avoid looking at Egbert as best he could “This is no time for flirting”

“Oh come on my darling, that’s half of who I am, you know the rules”

Cornelius rolled his eyes and Amelia rose from her seat “Fine, if you simply must be off, I have this little elixir for you, it should help you with your friend” She handed a tiny vial to Cornelius, who pocketed it and rose from his chair as well, giving Amelia a strange look.

“It was nice seeing you, Con” She flashed a wicked smile his way “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out”

And with that, Egbert and Cornelius were no longer surrounded by the warm fire and the smell of flowers, but standing in the damp alley which smelled of fish and burning wood. The rain was starting to come down a bit more, Egbert and Cornelius exchanged a look.

“I think I should hold onto that” Egbert said

“No no, your clumsy dragon hands will smash the thing, we should be off to find your friend”

Egbert wanted to say something about what he overheard, but he had left Prudence alone for long enough, he needed to get back to her so she and him could find Corazón and warn him.

“Yeah” He said, his stomach feeling uneasy and a bit hot. He would wait it out, but he didn’t know how long he could wait for, since Amelia mentioned she could use her magic to find Corazón just by knowing his name…

He hoped he wasn’t going to be too late.


	8. What a Beautiful Place

“Do you get a sort of odd feeling here, young Lord?”

Corazón shook his head as the pair made their way through the long and dim halls of the estate. “Looks like nobody is even here” He said, almost a whisper, the halls had a strange way of echoing everything and he was already tense enough as it were.

By the light of the moon he and Bladeor were able to find their way to the main hall, where a couple of dim candles were lit. Corazón heard the loud patter of rain and the thudding thunder outside, he reached over to the wall and tried to switch on the lights, but nothing happened.

“Seems like the storm cut the power” Bladeor pointed out

“Damn it”

“I really don’t think anyone is here, we should make haste to find your ship instead, young Lord”

Underneath the rain, underneath the thunder, Corazón was sure he could hear something else, a low and uncertain noise… but it was there nevertheless, Bladeor kept talking on and on about heading out to find the ship but Corazón wasn’t listening.  He was trying to focus on what that noise was.

“Shh” He held up a finger to silence Bladeor “I hear something…”

“It’s very likely just the rain”

Corazón straightened up and sighed “You’re probably right, Maybe I’m just hearing things…” He said, though he felt an unease, as if something was watching him and waiting to make a move.  This feeling continued as they made their way further into the manor, their eyes finally adjusting to the dark and making it easier to traverse the estate. 

When they came upon a door at the end of one of many halls, Corazón froze before touching the door. Bladeor stopped behind him “You don’t have to stay here, Percy”

“No, I’m not a child. I don’t need to be coddled” He said shortly “It’s just a room”

And with that, he pushed the door open, the first thing he saw was the silhouette of a tall and very angry man sitting causally on Corazón’s childhood bed. “Well, well” the man said “I was wondering when you would show up”

“Tobias” Corazón reached for his dagger, firmly gripping the handle and ready to throw it at the orc if he had to. He put his arm out to stop Bladeor moving any closer and suddenly the room lit up with a warm glow. Magic from Tobias, no doubt.

He had a smug look on his face and was holding a page that seemed to have fallen out of one of the many books lining the shelves in Corazón’s room.

“I’ve been doing a bit of reading, and it looks like I wasn’t the only one. Seems I just missed your little friends, but I did find this gem” He cleared his throat and read from the page.

“My plan is to run away, tonight, I cannot bear one more day in this place. I will pack only what I need, I will bid farewell to the horses, and I will leave” Tobias let out a chuckle as he read the journal page.

“Such a rebellious young man, Percy”

“Leave us alone, Toby” Corazón said, taking a step forward towards the orc “Or I’m going to make you leave us alone”

The orc rolled his eyes and let out another laugh “What is a ninny like you going to do, I wonder?”

The rain seemed to come down harder, as sheets of it flooded past the windows and the thunder was so loud it rattled the glass and seemed to shake the floor beneath him, he surveyed the situation, it would be so easy to corner the orc and try to take him down that way, but he didn’t have a sword, and he didn’t have any of his friends with him.  Tobias may have been an idiot, but he was using powerful magic that Corazón didn’t think he’d be able to fight against.

“Have I made Percival speechless?”

In his anger, Corazón forgot anything that he previously thought about having a plan, about having an escape, about how Tobias could potentially kill him with his strong magic, and he threw the dagger through the air, watching it flip over the distance until it finally lodged itself right in Tobias’ right eye.  He rose from the bed, dropping the page and letting out a howl that cut through the sounds of thunder and rain.

“How ironic” Corazón said “If I’m speechless, you’re sightless”

“You shouldn’t have done that” Tobias said in a low threatening voice, wrenching the dagger out of his eye and studying the blade, behind Corazón, Bladeor spoke again “We need to move, we need to get out of here, now!”

Corazón saw the anger in the orc’s face and agreed with the sword-maker, as the two quickly pushed out of the room and ran through the halls, Tobias was behind them, his heavy boots thudding on the wood floor. 

The pair made it to the main room which was an extravagantly sized room adorned with many chairs, decorations and a magnificent fireplace that was usually lit in weather like this, Corazón remembered many winter’s evenings sitting in front of that fire and trying to toast various things he attached to the end of the poker.

This of course earned him several hours in his room, sometimes without dinner. His father accused him of behaving childishly, but it didn’t stop Corazón from doing it again the next night.

Bladeor and him nearly made it to a set of double doors that led to the side exit and out to the gardens, but Tobias was right behind them, the lights flickered on as he came through the entrance “Corazón de Ballena!” the man yelled angrily.

Corazón whipped around to quite a sight, the man was clutching his eye with one hand, and the dagger in the other, Corazón could see blood droplets running down the man’s green skin and onto the pristine floor.  This would severely upset his father, he tried not to laugh at the thought of his father’s affronted face.

“Yes?” He answered, casually

“You shouldn’t have done that” Tobias repeated “You’re going to regret this!”

“Oh really?” Corazón laughed “I mean what’s an idiot like you gonna even do?”

Corazón always heard people talking about moments in their life that seemed to play out in slow motion, but he never experienced it, the heavy feeling as you know what’s going to happen but you are powerless to stop it. He watched the orc use all his strength to throw the dagger, it whipped right past Corazón and behind him, at first, Corazón was sure it had stuck into the wall.

But then the man beside him fell with a thud, and everything sped up.

Corazón looked from the crumpled man on the floor of the estate to the mad orc that was still clutching his injured eye. 

“It looks like an idiot like me is going to do that” Tobias said, laughing madly, the sound echoing off the walls and mixing with Bladeor’s pained grunts.

Corazón keeled down beside the man “Let me see” He said “Where is it?”

Bladeor moved his hands, the dagger was lodged right into his stomach, Corazón only saw the handle of the dagger, the entire blade was stuck inside the man.

“If you try to take that out, he bleeds to death, but lets be honest… He’s probably going to anyway. Just depends on if you want to speed up the process or not”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Corazón shouted at the orc “He didn’t do anything!” the pirates hands were shaking as he held them over the dagger, he knew that Tobias was right, if he pulled the weapon out Bladeor would die right away. There was nothing he could do…

"I bet you are relieved" Tobias said, stepping closer to where Corazón knelt beside his wounded friend, He stood right beside the pirate and let out a low laugh.

"Why would I be relieved?“  He asked in spite of himself, not even looking at the man.

"Because you long to be alone, it's the only way you'll ever be happy, it's why you ran away to live at sea, it's why you drove away all of your former crew, it's why you've waited so long to find your so called friends in this village!"

“Don’t do this” he said, he could feel the blood from the eye wound dripping onto his head and soaking into his hair but he didn’t care.

Corazón finally took his eyes off the wounded man in front of him and looked up at Tobias, the orc was wearing a smug smile on his face, Corazón couldn’t attack him even if he had the energy, he had no weapons, he had very little offensive magic knowledge..

“You like deals, right Tobias?”

“I do, you’ve learned well”

“Get the hell out of here and I won’t kill you”

Tobias roared with laughter “And why do you think I would possibly do that?”

“Does this look like a joke to you?” Corazón asked “Look me in the eyes, you know I’m serious, you know I will kill you… It’s best just to get out of here”

“You know what? Fine, I’ll leave you for now. But you’re a fool if you think I’ll let this go.” He laughed again, turning to walk towards the door “I’ll let the guilt eat you up”

“What are you talking about?”

“Focus, idiot. You killed him. If it wasn’t for your flashy little dagger trick, he might still be alive” The orc smirked once more “Maybe I won’t have to kill you after all”

He left the estate through the side door, heading out into the gardens and presumbly about to step on the flowers as he made his way back around. The doors shut with a slam and Corazón was alone again. The floor covered in the blood droplets from the orc and the room filled with the sound of coughing.

“Percy, you need to leave” Bladeor said, breathing heavily 

“What about you?”

“I’m going to be fine…” He smiled, but his smile was broken by a coughing fit that forced blood from his mouth, he closed his eyes and Corazón grabbed his shoulder gently.

“Mate, you have to stay with me”

“You have to find your friends” He said, his voice was wavering, and Corazón could tell the man was becoming weaker with every word. “Tobias won’t keep his word, you know this”

“I never should have come here, maybe my father was right”

Bladeor shook his head, causing another coughing fit as he struggled to catch his breath again, but it was coming in a loud rattling wheeze.

“Your father was _wrong_ ” He closed his eyes again,

Corazón shook the man, groaning “Don’t do this…”

Another rumble of thunder filed the house and rattled the windows, the lights started to flicker until they finally went off, bathing the scene in an eerie light from the moon.

"There's nothing you can do for me now, Percy"

“I could… I could find something, someone.. I” he looked around in a panic “I could…”

Bladeor shook his head and weakly grabbed the pirate’s wrist “I’m going to _die_ , there’s no way around that”

"But you can't... you can't leave, I'll be alone..."  He said, his voice shaking. 

"You'll find your friends, Percy, you're never going to be alone with them"

" _Please_ " Corazon said softly,  "Don't go" he hated the way his voice sounded in that moment, like a scared child. He hated the helpless feeling he felt as he watched the man take his last breath, and he hated that all he could do was sit on the floor, eyes closed with the sound of his own heart thudding in his ears.

Everything was dark, even when he opened his eyes, Bladeor's grip was loose on his wrist, and his eyes were staring straight ahead, Corazon knew of course that the man was dead, but he shook him anyway, starting out gentle and then rocking the man back and forth.  

"Wake up" he whispered, "Just wake up...."

“Please wake up…”

“Please”

These were the words he repeated until he finally fell asleep on the floor of his childhood home, next to a dead man who had saved his life.

* * *

It was still dark when he woke up on the floor. His hair was sticky with the blood from the orc, and presumably Bladeor’s as well. Corazón looked at the body beside him, his stomach churned at the thought but he had to get the dagger, it was his only defense against Tobias.

He gripped the handle tightly and pulled, he was able to pull it out, he wiped the blood on his trouser leg and leaned over to close the man’s eyes.

Tobias was still out there, bleeding and half blind but still plotting, and Corazón couldn’t let him just be free, he couldn’t let him get away with all the things he’s done.

Corazón looked at the man, he couldn’t just leave him here… He made a quick decicion and rose to his feet, grabbing the man’s feet and dragging him over to the doors and out into the garden, he couldn’t lift the man up, he was too heavy and Corazón was too weak, but he did what he could. 

The rain was still pounding down from the sky, heavy and seemingly never ending. Corazón braced himself as he dragged Bladeor’s limp body down the back stairs and out to the gardens. He knelt down on the soggy dirt and started digging with his hands, the more dirt he removed, the more mud formed. It was inefficient, he knew this, he knew he should have used a shovel, but it felt too easy, it felt too unfair.

A man dies because of him and he takes the easy way out with a shovel? Corazón couldn’t do it, he sat there in the rain for hours, digging, moving dirt from the earth. He was cold, he was shaking, weak, hungry, and tired… Occasionally his hands would dig out a jagged rock that would slice his skin, he barely felt it. He kept going.

Corazón remembered when he was a child and this man had come to deliver things to his father, new drapes. Young Corazón was always more than excited because it meant he could have more places to play hide and seek.  More places to spy on his father and his stuffy high society friends, and more places to simply be alone. 

“Sorry for all the trouble” his father would say to the man after young Percy’s childish antics.

The drapery man would always say the same thing with a smile at the young child “Ain’t no trouble at all”

Corazón was being pelted by the hard rain, his skin was hurting and he was certain he would be bruised, his knees hurt from leaning into the ground, he had no idea how long he was out here for, but he knew it wasn’t nearly enough, it wasn’t deep enough, wasn’t good enough.

After a while the rain stopped, slowly at first and then all at once, the smell of dirt was overwhelming, it was all he could smell, it was all he could see and feel as he climbed out of the hole he dug, big enough for what he needed it for.

He gently pushed the body into the shallow grave, and then spent even more time covering him up with the earth, by the time he was finished the sun was starting to creep over the horizon and birds were chirping their songs loudly, it was like they didn’t even realize the scene playing out underneath them.

They didn’t have a care in the world.

Nothing else matters.

He pushed himself up, he was unsteady on his feet after being in the same position for so long, and it wasn’t a perfect grave, but it was all he could do… He walked back through the house, back through the halls and into his room where he grabbed the paper Tobias had been reading from, and made his way to the doors he and Bladeor had come through what seemed like weeks ago by now.

The sun rose slowly, a bright explosion of orange and pink littered the sky as Corazón left the Milquetoast Manor, one last time.


	9. Returns and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistakes are made, and the adventurers somehow make more trouble for themselves.

Rain started to come down harder over the heads of the three people who were sitting on the rapidly muddying ground.

Lord Milquetoast scoffed and broke their circle to stand up, causing Merilwen to open her eyes “Excuse me?” She asked “What exactly do you think your doing?”

“I don’t know if your keen senses have detected it, small elf. But it is raining and I’m getting soaked, we have been here for hours and look…” he said “The sun is starting to rise”

“How obnoxiously pretentious are you that a little rain offends you this much?” Merilwen rolled her eyes at the man “You interrupted my grounding spell and now I’m not sure where the hell we are”

Dob’s eyes widened as he looked at the elf “Merilwen! You never swear!”

“Lord ‘I’m better than you’ over there is making me reconsider it” She got to her feet and approached the man “You know what? Your simply jealous”

“Jealous?”

“Yes!” Merilwen said as the rain continued to fall around them in the forest “You are jealous that Corazón escaped from the high society life, that he’s out there in the world living free and having _fun”_

“I bet you’ve never had fun in your life” Dob added, still sitting on the forest floor.

“Right” Lord Milquetoast said “Now I can see why Percival likes to keep this sort of company, you are very vulgar and just downright rude, if I do say so myself. When Percy was a young boy, he was quite well behaved, and I don’t know what happened, but he changed”

“I mean, I’m no professional but maybe he changed because he was tired of not getting attention?” Dob said, pushing himself up off the ground “I mean, he’s a bit weird about it, always trying to steal the spotlight and always talking about himself, when he’s not talking about you, of course”

“Yes, Corazón has a lot of issues” Merilwen agreed “And now we see more of where that comes from”

Lord Milquetoast rolled his eyes “I know you’re trying to wind me up, I’m not as unintelligent as you seem to believe.  What absolute nonsense has Percy fed your head with? He’s always been one to tell stories, did you know he lied as a child?”

“He doesn’t tell us anything in particular, he just occasionally grumbles about how stupid you are” Merilwen said simply “But there was one night… the night after you tried to have his former crew kill him, actually… That I met him on the ship and he told me he was scared of you”

Dob looked at her “When did this happen?”

“It was when I went back to get your lute string, he was alone up there, staring at the sky. He told me he was afraid to leave, but he was even more terrified that he’d have come back”

Her half-orc friend looked down sadly “Now I feel bad, I didn’t even think that he was… I mean I just thought he was fine”

Merilwen put a comforting hand on her friends arm “Because that’s what he wanted, don’t be too hard on yourself, be hard on him” She shot a glare at Lord Milquetoast.

“Did he really say that?”

“Yes” Merilwen nodded “He did”

“He was such a problem child” Lord Milquetoast shook his head “We just couldn’t handle him, he wanted to..”

“He wanted more than just your idea of life for him” Merilwen said “And how dare he want that, how dare he wish to be happy”

“I tried to be a father to him, by that point he didn’t want to let go of his fantasy notion of a better life outside of the estate” he cleared his throat “And I was right, he’s much worse off without the Milquetoast name”

The wood elf groaned “Ugh, you just don’t get it, do you?!” she shouted “Your the problem, not Corazón!”

“I have had quite enough of this nonsense, you two can perfect your little magic tricks, I will fare better finding my own way out of this disgusting forest”

“Are you serious? You could get eaten by a bear!” Dob shouted after the aristocrat, who disappeared into the thick trees without saying another word

“If he gets eaten by a bear, Cora’s not going to be happy”

“Or he’ll be extremely happy” Merilwen said with a shrug

* * *

 Corazón made his way to the town square, staring at the fountain and all the people starting to walk about the shops. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his pants and felt a slip of parchment, pulling it out he remembered it was the piece of parchment with Katie’s name on it, in all of the chaos he had forgotten that he had to track Katie down.

 Tonight, at the charity ball.

Which would mean he needed a wardrobe upgrade, he grimaced as he looked down at his mud soaked clothing. He almost looked like a beggar.

_There’s more out there than beggars._

He remembered an argument he had with his father long ago about less fortunate people sleeping outside the gates to their home. It was common place for this to happen, some of the beggars and urchins wishing for even an ounce of sympathy from the aristocracy.

But alas, they never found that sympathy from Lord Milquetoast, he would scoff as he passed them by, would go to great lengths to remove them from what he called his property, but the truth was, they were outside the gates, and as Corazón often reminded his father “You don’t own the town”

His father wasn’t a jovial man, he wasn’t even a cheerful man, he was a rigid and stiff man who would, if he saw a fire, merely take his glasses off slightly, make a non-committal noise, and go about his business, but Corazón’s words had elicited a haughty laugh from the man.

“Son, you very clearly have much to learn about how this life works. We own whatever we want”

Corazón’s past reverie was broken when a man in a dapper looking outfit bumped into him. 

“Watch where your going, you scoundrel!” the man said with disgust as he looked over his shoulder. Corazón sulked away to the bench where previously he and Bladeor had sat.  He recalled that night, recalled how mean he was being to the man who simply wanted to let him know there was someone out in the world that didn’t think he was less than anyone else because he left his home.

Corazón was tired, he missed his ship, he missed his friends, and he had no idea where they were or if Tobias had tracked them down by that point, he was alone, completely and utterly alone.

“What’s wrong?” a voice said, Corazón looked up and saw a woman with dark brown hair, pulled back into a tight bun and a braid on either side of her face, she tilted her head with concern.

“None of your business”

“I’m just… wondering” She said with a frown

“I have to go to a stupid charity ball and I look like what I’d assume someone poor looks like” he indicated his clothes “They’d never let me in the front door”

“Wow, this must be fate” She said, sitting beside him

“Listen, lady.. I know I’m sexy, probably even more so covered in dirt and blood but… it’s not the time to be flirting”

She scoffed “Are you kidding me? I’m not hitting on you!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not sexy, I mean you should see me in my regular normal clothes. I clean up nice”

She let out a howl of laughter “I just meant that I own a tailor and wardrobe shop up the street, you idiot”

“Oh”

“But your defensiveness is quite charming” She said with a shake of her head “Now do you want my help or not?”

“Sure, I don’t have any money though”

“Consider it a good deed for someone in need” She stood up “My shop is a ways up that hill”

Corazón grimaced at her rhyme “That sounded like a charity slogan, I hate it”

“You’re going to a charity ball and you hate charity?”

He stood up and brushed dried dirt off his arms, trying to avoid brushing it off into her face “I’m only going there to find a girl”

The woman nodded with understanding “Ah, that’s why you’re being so weird”

“What? Shut up, you are. And it’s not like.. I’m looking for a girl, I’m looking for a girl who stole my pirate ship”

“You’re a pirate?”

“I’m the best damn pirate that’s ever come out of this one horse town”

“You do realize Lord Milquetoast has quite a wide array of–”

“Horses, yes.. I’m quite aware of the horses” He replied, irritated as the pair of them walked up the hill, passing by quite a fair share of shops. “What’s with all the shops here?”

“You don’t live around here?”

“No, I’m a sea.. pirate.. I live on the sea” He hesitated “I mean, I lived here when I was a kid and I don’t remember any of these being here”

“I don’t believe I got your name”

“Because I didn’t give it to you, I’m uh…” He thought for a moment, what alias could he make up… What vibrant backstory could he weave

“I’m not related to Lord Milquetoast”

She raised an eyebrow “I’m Melody Song and don’t even bother laughing at my name, I know”

“Your parents must have hated you, now back onto these shops?”

She nodded “Curse protection became a huge thing after that incident with the wizard, so most of the shops around here are based around that.. Like” She pointed towards a shop seemingly bathed in purple “That’s Ingrid’s store.. She’s a real oddball” She looked at him “Actually, if you don’t mind I need to pop in there for a second, I have something I need to pick up for my father”

He shrugged and followed her to the shop, when he walked in the door he was assaulted with the foulest smell known to man.

“Holy hell it smells worse than the Tanner’s Folly sewers in here” He shouted

A woman with red hair came out of the back with eyebrows furrowed in anger “Excuse me?”

“I… mean, it smells like flowers and other good smells, it doesn’t smell like vomit in here at all”

The woman rolled her eyes at the pirate, and then spotted the other woman.  Her eyes lit up and she rushed to take Melody’s hands in her own.

“Melody, my darling!” She said, beaming “I assume you’re here for the crystals?”

“Yes, my father is getting quite impatient.”

“I’m so sorry about that, the usual girl we have to deliver is out sick” She looked to Corazón “Oh, I apologize, where are my manners” She said, sticking out her hand for him to shake. He eyed it warily before taking it.

“Welcome to The Farrant Shop, I’m Ingrid Ingersoll, and this is your one stop shop for anything and everything to get rid of or bring ghosts to your location”

“Why would I want to bring ghosts to my location?” Corazón asked incredulously

She thought on this for a moment “Lonely?”

“And why is the shop called the Farrant shop when it’s not your last name?”

She smiled excitedly and rushed behind the desk, grabbing a piece of parchment and scrawling on it quickly. She beckoned the two of them closer and Corazón shared a worried glance with Melody before they walked to the counter.

“It’s an acronym! Look!” She shouted happily as she showed them the paper, it was a jumbled mess of random words.

“It just seems like you picked random words out of a hat”

Ingrid’s eyes widened and she genuinely looked as though she could start crying at any moment “I’m… so tired of this, why does nobody respect the Farrant shop”

“I mean your business model makes no sense, you have items here that BRING hexes and curses upon the wearer, you claim that you want to bring ghosts to people, I… fail to-”

He grunted as Melody elbowed him in the side

“I think it’s great!” She said to the slightly distraught shop owner “I like the walls and how… purple everything is, the Gothic undertones”

“Undertones?” Corazón questioned sarcastically, “you could drown a vampire in all this”

“I said shut up” Melody hissed at him

“No, you said ‘nudges in the stomach’ which by the way, ow”

“What is your name?” Ingrid asked Corazón.

“Corazón de Ballena, world renowed pirate”

“I’ve never heard of you”

“Corazón?” Melody asked “That’s.. Are you Corazón de Leon?”

“Uh, no… psh you are” He looked around the room to avoid looking at the woman and she stood there with her arms crossed

“Because what I heard was that Corazón de Leon died at sea…”

“Such a shame, that he died… So shame. I wouldn’t have died if I had been doing whatever it was he was doing, that’s for sure”

“Excuse me for a moment, Ingrid” Melody said, grabbing Corazón by the arm and leading him outside the shop, she lessened her grip and then smacked him on the arm “Are you serious?!”

“What? Ow, what?!”

“You are Corazón de Leon?!”

“I’m not that… guy, he’s a different guy”

“Cut the crap de Leon, I cannot believe this..”

A couple of passersby stared at the pair of them as they walked past the shop, Melody just smiled and waved “It’s nothing, we’re just kidding around… practicing a play” This excuse seemed to please the strangers and they carried on with their own business.

“What is your deal?” Corazón asked, rubbing the spot of his arm where she had grabbed him “Did I like.. Personally…hurt you or steal from your family or something?”

She scoffed loudly “Yes! You stole over eighty gold from me, you stupid scoundrel!”

“What is with people and that word today?!”

“Not only did you steal gold from me, your father put my father out of business”

“My father? I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady”

She smacked him hard across the arm again, he winced “Ouch, fine, what?”

“Percival Milquetoast? Why the hell are you here?”

“I used to live here… just visiting my childhome… childhood home..”

“I don’t believe you, I believe you’re here to screw me over again”

“Wow you have quite an ego, Melody. I’m honestly just here to get some of my things from the old estate and then leave and never come back.”

He looked up at the sky, the morning sun was starting to become muted as more clouds rolled in, he groaned “Can we like, speed this along? I really do need to get an outfit that doesn’t look like this for tonight”

“Don’t you have a wardrobe at your estate?”

“Honestly? You think my father wouldn’t have thrown away each individual piece of clothing I ever owned? I mean not just thrown it away either but lit the bins on fire” He sighed “Look, I know that you probably think I’m some spoiled, arrogant, aristocrat, high society moron… But I ran away! I did, I ran away to become a pirate and live on the seas and I hate my dad and my dad hates me and I’m only here because he’s… like, moving the estate around, redecorating, moving into a different mansion? I don’t know and I don’t care.”

She crossed her arms and set her face in a furious expression

“I came here to like… get closure, I hate my dad, did I not mention that?” He said, his voice cracking a little bit

Melody relaxed a little bit and uncrossed her arms “Fine, I’ll help you with the tailoring stuff, but you owe me eighty gold pieces”

“I have them on my ship, when I get my ship back, you can have whatever… I just want to get the hell out of here”

“Fair enough” She said “Let me get my package from Ingrid, and you stay out here, I don’t need you making fun of her shop anymore”

“It’s not even an acronym”

“Let it go!” She said angrily, heading back into the store leaving Corazón to wait by himself.

 

* * *

Egbert fiddled with a hole in his shirt as he and Cornelius approached the small run down apartment that Egbert had left Prudence in, the closer they got the more guilt he was feeling, he had just abandoned her to whatever horrible fate could have befallen her.

 

“Is this it?” Cornelius asked, looking at the apartment from the street

Egbert nodded, Cornelius bit his bottom lip and handed the elixir over to the dragon, the pair of them went inside.

Prudence was still there, on the floor in her deep slumber, Egbert kneeled down beside her and looked at Cornelius “How do I… does she have to drink it?”

The man nodded, keeping his distance by standing near the door.  Egbert nervously uncapped the tiny bottle and positioned it to her mouth, tilting it back.   “What is it supposed to do? I… she’s not waking up, did I do something wrong?”

“Give it a moment”

Prudence’s eyes fluttered open and she swallowed hard, shuddering “That was worse than Merilwen’s hangover paste” she grunted

Egbert smiled in relief and dropped the bottle on the floor, pulling Prudence into a hug in which he squeezed her maybe a little tighter than he realized “Egbert” she struggled to say

“Egbert, I’m going to murder you”

He let her go, still smiling “I’m just so happy your alive! So much has happened, I forgot how to spell my name!”

“It’s E. G. B. E. R. T” she said, as if this were a normal occurrence and she often had to remind Egbert of this very thing.

“Who is this walking corpse?” Prudence asked, indicating Cornelius

“That’s Chong or something”

The man let out a noise of frustration “Cornelius…”

“Ah yes, Cornelius Featherington”

The man rubbed at his temples and rolled his eyes “I’m actually Cornelius Fletcher”

Prudence shrugged “Same thing to me, anyway. What the hell Egbert? Where’s Cora?”

Cornelius cleared his throat “I can see that this is all personal matters, so I will… take my leave and head back to my shop”

“Not so fast” Egbert said, “I know you think I’m some kind of idiot but I heard you talking to that woman”

The man’s face went a shade of pale Egbert had never seen before, he looked as if he had seen a ghost doing something dreadfully inappropriate, he tried to back out of the small apartment.

“What’s going on?” Prudence asked, starting to rise to her feet but still a little unsteady, she leaned against Egbert for a moment while she regained her balance.

“He’s sent a vampire after Cor” Egbert said

“What?! Where is he?”

“I have no idea, but she said she had magic that could find him if she knew a name, and that’s when ol’ Simon here decided to betray me”

“My name is Cornelius!”

“It doesn’t matter what your name was” Prudence began “What matters is that you won’t ever be able to say it again”

“Prudence, wait” Egbert held out an arm to quiet her “I.. I want to hear your reasoning, I won’t just simply dish out punishment if it isn’t deserved”

“You talked about him… everything you said painted this obnoxious picture of a horrible person, and a pirate too?” He made a face “The more you talked about him, the more I realized I know who he is… He’s the old Lord’s son”

“How the hell could you have guessed that?!”

“I used to know his father, actually” Cornelius said “Well not know in the friendly sense, he’s the man who kicked me out of my home. He’s the reason I live in a failing shop, and while he isn’t the reason I live with a curse, he may well be responsible for it as I met the damn woman who did it at one of his charity balls”

“Corazón’s father knows vampires?”

Cornelius scoffed impatiently “No, he… he had no idea who this woman was when she showed up at the party and he still doesn’t know about that, but he knows I have a bone to pick with him”

“Seems like everyone does lately” Egbert remarked sarcastically

“So when you said the name Corazón de Ballena, I put a little two and two together… nobody is supposed to know about Corazón being Percival… but a couple of people within high society who knew that little tidbit, I don’t quite know if you understand, but gossip is rampant among the aristocracy”

He shrugged “Not my problem of course, but I did hear the very interesting information through the gossip vine about where Percy went… He had disappeared one summer and though Lord Milquetoast tried to keep it quiet, it got out… people were, people were certain he had died somehow, but the excuse for the public was that he went away for some noble charity reason”

Prudence let out a laugh at this, she covered her mouth with her hand

“So in a way, you are responsible for this Egbert, I wash my hands of whatever happens to the lad”

“But I assume you will send correspondence to Milquetoast to tell him that his son is dead?” Egbert shook his head sadly “I thought you were a good person, Cornelius. I thought that you were genuine and just got dealt a bad hand with the curse stuff”

“I was dealt a bad hand with the curse!” Cornelius bellowed “Do you have any idea how it feels to live half of your life absolutely out of your mind and the other half dependent on another person to make you feel normal? And that antidote, it doesn’t last forever… You don’t understand, if I give your little friend to Mel, she may lift the curse”

“She’s a vampire, why would she do that?”

“She was my friend… she was my companion when I was struggling”

Prudence rolled her eyes “Excuse me Allan”

“Cornelius”

“Andrew.”

Cornelius let out a loud scream “MY NAME IS CORNELIUS!”

Prudence put out her hand and smiled as little sparks curled around her fingers, Cornelius’ eyes widened and he tried the door, which appears to have gotten stuck when he and Egbert came through it.

“The point is” She said, slowly taking a threatening step forward “is that I don’t care what your name is..”

“Prudence…”

She looked to Egbert “I won’t do it if you don’t want me to, just say the word”

“That’s oddly out of character for you, Pru, you don’t care about that kind of stuff, senseless violence is your favorite”

She nodded “But I know how important that paladin stuff is to you, and if you want to do this another way, we can”

“I can’t say I condone this, but… I don’t have to watch.”

“Watch what?” Cornelius said “I.. What’s going on?” He spluttered “I made a mistake, a single mistake!”

“You are going to let a vampire murder an innocent person because you hate his father?! That’s one big mistake, you..Idiot” Prudence said, looking to Egbert, who had turned away

“Can I kill this asshole?”

“Be my guest”

The room was filled with the crackle of electricity, the sound of screams and the distinct smell of the sea as Prudence channeled her connection to her patron. The screaming suddenly stopped and Egbert turned around, Cornelius was lying in a heap on the floor.

“I stopped just short of turning him to ash”

“Cornelius” Egbert said “Was it all a lie? Were you just going to bring me to Amelia because you wanted me to be the sacrifice?”

Cornelius nodded through the pain of Prudence’s violent attack, he was unable to form many words though “I… and then you mentioned Corazón, and I thought…”

“You thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up, isn’t that right?”

Cornelius nodded again.

“I’m ashamed of you, of trusting you… and while you burn in this apartment, I want you to think on what you’ve done, and if you survive this… Try to find absolution”


	10. No One Gets To Push Me Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corazon heads to town after a rough night, and he runs into unexpected trouble at the charity ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10 was originally supposed to be the last chapter, but it ended up becoming too long before I got to the point the story ends, so you get more chapters!
> 
> \----
> 
> The last we saw of Milquetoast in the fic, he was hanging out with Merilwen and Dob in the forest, he disappears and they go off to find him, he's obviously made his way back to safety, but what about Dob and Merilwen? 
> 
> Fun fact about Lord Milquetoast going off on his own, he had a compass, he was easily able to find his way without getting lost in the woods, and yes, he does come back to a totally messed up and trashed house covered in blood.

Melody walked out of the shop with a small and ornate looking package, Corazón wondered what was in it and if it was valuable before she placed it in her bag and nodded at him “Now we can head up to my shop and get you some better clothes… but again, not super happy to be helping you after you robbed me”

 

Corazón scoffed “I did not rob you, that’s… I stole several of your things while you weren’t looking”

“You’re the son of a Lord, why do you need to steal anything?!”

“Because, my father is a bastard and I hate him”

“Wouldn’t _you_ be the bastard?”

The pair of them continued on their journey in a stiff silence only broken by the sounds of the morning birds, passersby and angry shop owners slamming their doors shut after some local children tried to play a prank on them.

Corazón remembered this area from when he was a child, there were no shops up this way, simply an empty expanse of green hills and flowers that he was allergic to, he would sometimes run down the path and hang out near the fountain in the square, his father would send one of the help to come fetch him if he had been gone too long.

_“But I’m playing!”_

_“The Lord requests your presence back at the estate“_

“We’re here” Melody’s voice broke his focus and he turned around to face quite a simple looking shop, the pair of them walked into the shop and he was overwhelmed with nostalgia.

“Wait” He said “What is this place?”

“Tailor shop, have you not been paying attention?”

“I mean I feel like I’ve been here before”

“Yeah, my father used to own and run this as a crystal shop, if you were here before, it’s because you probably stole something from here”

He looked at the walls, the same shoddy wood as before, the floor was the same pattern, except instead of tables and displays full of rare crystals, it was lined with mirrors and outfits.

“Can we get this over with?” She said “I’m.. I really don’t want you in my shop”

“Okay, fair enough. What would look good on me?”

“Personally speaking? A muzzle, professionally speaking…” She walked slowly around him, eyeing him up and down and tilting her head “I think I have just the thing for you if you’re planning on heading up to a fancy ball”

“I had a swell coat before, but it was stolen by some mean idiot”

“How long was the coat?”

“Down to my boots”

“Alright, never fear, the seamstress is here”

Melody bustled over some boxes in the corner for a moment, giving him time to look around the shop. Not much had changed from the last time he had been in here, except the business model.  He still remembered passing by this place every time he went down to the fountain, The crystal shop was the only shop on this hill when he was a child.

Melody returned a couple of minutes later with a tool that he assumed she was going to smack him over the head with, but she assured him it wasn’t for that “It’s for your measurements” She said with a shrug

“I don’t relish doing this on a man that steals from me, but I… I do assume you’re going to pay me”

“Eventually”

“I’ll pretend to believe you, stand still and relax”

“I know how this works” He said, and he was well versed in getting tailor made clothing, when he was a child he was forced to tag along at all the fancy dinners, balls, brunches and more, his father always wanted him to look his best.

_“You’re not simply going to a party, Percy” He had said “You’re representing our family”_

_“And what, pray tell, am I representing about our family?” the young Percy had asked while he was being fitted and his father stood to the side “Lies?”_

_“Now now, Percy.” His father had said in that tone, the tone Corazón hated so very much._

It was a dismissive tone, a tone that held disdain and disapproval within it. Corazón couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the memory.

“So why did you run away?”

“I don’t want to talk about it”

She stepped in front of him to take the measurements of his arms and around his chest. “I’m serious though” She continued as if he didn’t speak at all. “It couldn’t have been all that bad… living in a huge castle”

“Manor” He corrected “And, as I said, I don’t want to talk about it”

“Fair enough”

“And it is as bad as ‘all that’”

“I can’t see how it is, I’ve met your father.”

“So you know how much of a pretentious asshole he is?”

“A bit” She said “But he doesn’t seem like a bad person”  She said, measuring the length of his shirt “What the hell have you been doing, anyway?”

His eye twitched at her words and he tensed up, balling up his fists in anger “Just… regular ol’ pirate stuff”

“You realize you’re tensing up?”

He cleared his throat “Because you’re wrong, my father..”

“Let me guess” Melody said, measuring the length of his legs “He was a bad father because he didn’t shower you with attention”

“He didn’t give me ANY attention” Corazón said, struggling to keep his composure

“Boo hoo” She said

He pushed her away from him and made his way to the door, she let out a laugh “I’m just kidding”

He stopped short of reaching for the door handle and opening the door “Just give me my clothes”

“I didn’t finish your measurements”

“I don’t care, just let me have my clothes.”

“Fine, wait out here while I get them” He couldn’t be sure, but he almost thought she had rolled her eyes as she went into the back room. He was only alone for a couple of minutes before she came back with folded clothes “There’s a changing room over there” She said, practically almost dumping the clothes onto the floor, if he hadn’t have grabbed them, they would have been.

He went to the small little room, it looked like it was formerly a bathroom or something, the walls were whiter than the walls in the main shop, and instead of a toilet, there were three mirrors standing up against the wall. Corazón looked at himself in the mirror, it’d been ages since he saw himself and he looked absolutely rough.

His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, his face and neck were covered in dirt and his skin was covered in scrapes and cuts. He shook his head and took off his ripped and dirtied clothes, replacing them with the crisp new clothes that Melody had nearly thrown at him.

She even included a belt in the folded clothes, which he had trouble fastening as it lay slightly loose on his waist, but he didn’t care. He was tired, he didn’t even want to go to this ball tonight but he had no choice, he had to find Katie because she apparently knew where his ship was.

He sighed as he buttoned up his shirt, a dark blue color that he wasn’t really a fan of, but it would do for what he needed, and he’d be able to get out of it when he found his ship and was able to access his collection of outfits.

Pulling the coat on and giving himself one final look in the mirror, he still looked absolutely rough. But maybe he didn’t care.  There wasn’t a lot he could do about his lack of sleep, he turned and exited the dressing room to find Melody by the door with an expression of impatience.

“I’m leaving” He said “Don’t worry”

“You will pay me, Corazón de Leon?”

“I’ll try to pay you” He shrugged as he passed by her to open the door, he turned before leaving “Thanks for the help”

Corazón had several hours to wait for the charity ball, he decided to head back down to the harbor and the tavern he, Prudence and Egbert had come to the first night they came here.  He sat down in a booth and tapped his fingers absentmindedly on the table. 

After a while the bartender came over to him “Sir, you’ve been sitting there for quite some time, are you going to order anything?”

“I don’t have any money” Corazón shrugged

“You look like you could really use one, I’ll let you have it on the house if you tell me a story.”

Corazón leaned forward “I’ll take the drink, but I can’t promise a story, mate”

The man nodded and went back behind the bar, Corazón took this chance to look around the tavern, there were only three other people scattered around the place in various stages of being drunk. He looked over to the bar where he first met Tobias.

The barkeep came back and set a tankard of ale down “If you feel like telling a story, I’m willing to listen”

“I’m fine, and thanks for the drink. I’ll pay you back”

When the man left again, Corazón watched the other people across from him, he wondered what they were doing here, what adventures they were on, what nonsense they had to put up with, he was so engrossed in his thoughts he almost didn’t notice when a man sat down in front of him.

“Looking good, Percival” a familiar voice broke his focus, he looked up at the man, who now had a very roughly stitched eye patch affixed to his face

“I’d say the same about you, but I’d be lying”

“Still have that sense of humor, I see”

“Get out of here Tobias” Corazón said, taking a sip of his ale and setting the cup gently on the table.  “You know goddamn well that I don’t want to see your ugly face”

“I’ve just been looking for your father” The orc said with a sly grin “I was so close last night, your little friends went to visit him”

“Tobias, I don’t want to hear it” He said

“What do you want to hear then?” Toby chuckled lightly “Do you want me to tell you stories of how I met Bladeor… Or, Edwin, I guess we should use his proper name now that he’s dead”

Corazón tried to ignore him, he looked past him over at the table that he and his friends had been at before he was in this mess, before he ever met Tobias, he wished he could go back to that day and decide against ever coming to this place. 

“He was quite a stupid man” Tobias said “He had what… faith in people? Disgusting, I bet he fed your ears with nonsense about how you’re a good person. But, Percy.. I know you, and I know you’re not”

Corazón kept his eyes glued to his drink and let out a small sigh. He was desperately trying to keep his calm, but he was already on edge after hearing Melody doubt his reasons for being angry at his father. 

And then there was last night.

“I know what you’re like, little coward. Unhappy with your perfect life, so you run away…”

“Tobias, I swear that I’m going to break off the handle of this cup and gouge your other eye out if you don’t shut the hell up” Corazón said without looking at the man, his voice oddly level considering the anger welling up inside of him.

Tobias let out a booming laugh that caused some of the other patrons to turn around to see what was going on. Corazón set his drink back on the table and got to his feet.

“Where are you headed, Percy?”

‘What is it you want, Tobias?“ Corazón asked by the door, his hands in the pockets of his new coat

“I told you, I have problems with your father”

“So do I mate, you aren’t special”

“But I also have problems with you now.. And I fix my problems”

Corazón turned to leave but was pulled back by the angry orc “You aren’t getting away with what you’ve done”

“Get your petty revenge later” Corazón said, yanking his arm away from the man “I have a ship to get back, I don’t have time for you”

“You know I’m never going to leave you alone Percy, you know I will hunt you to the ends of the earth for what you’ve done”

Corazón turned to the man, in one quick motion he retrieved his dagger from his pocket and placed it against the orc’s throat “What _I’ve_ done? What about what you’ve done?” He said, his voice unwavering “What about Prudence? What about tormenting me? What about last night?” 

Though his voice was steady, his hand was not and he felt himself starting to shake with anger, which caused Tobias to laugh.

“You really think your special, don’t you?” He scoffed “You think you’re the only one whose had it rough, but let me give you a reality check, Percival…”

Corazón pressed the dagger against the orc’s skin hard enough to draw blood “That. Isn’t. My. Name. ” 

There was a noise over by the bar and the two looked towards the owner waving a pistol around as a warning “I don’t take kindly to fights in my bar, you want to get the hell out?”

Tobias raised an eyebrow “If you had a pistol, why didn’t you just shoot me and my pals the other day?”

“Because, you idiot, I didn’t have this the other day! Now get the hell out of my bar”

Corazón pulled the dagger away from Tobias and pocketed it, striding purposefully out of the tavern, but the orc followed him up the street.

“I could kill you right now” He said with a mirthful laugh, Corazón stopped walking away from him and turned around to face him. “Reading what little I could find of your journal? What a unbelievably entitled child you were, it’s no wonder your father would have rather you died than for you to cause shame on the family”

Corazón looked away from the man “Tobias, leave.. Please just leave” He was tired, he was exhausted, “I don’t want to fight anymore, I just want to leave this place”

“Have it your way, Corazón de Ballena” Tobias said gruffly “I’ll come back for you, and you know that’s the truth”

* * *

The sun was starting to dip behind the clouds as he sat on the bench in the village square, staring at the passersby, staring at the fountain.  Fighting to keep Tobias’ words out of his head, and struggling to gather the strength to leave the bench.

It was almost time for the ball to start, he knew, he could see others in evening wear and making their way to Count Edward’s home. He had no idea where it was, but he didn’t have to do anything but follow the stream of people going in the same direction.

He pushed himself off the bench and looked at the sky, it was time to confront Katie once and for all, get his ship, find his friends and leave this place.

He walked, slowly and unmatching to the other feet heading to the Count’s estate, sometimes others behind him scoffed with frustration at his slow pace, he closed his eyes as he walked. He didn’t need to see where he was going, he had walked this path before.

Before too long they were there, he and the party of people he had followed. He saw the illustrious mansion and it’s high windows. It looked comparable to the Milquetoast manor, but his childhood home was much more extravagant.  He approached the doorman, who was holding a piece of parchment with some names on it and letting people in based on that.

“Name, please?”

“Corazón de Ballena”

He squinted at the paper for a moment “Not on the list, sir”

“Corazón de Leon?” He said with a shrug

The man shook his head

“Okay, obviously I’m not on the list but… Just… tell the ol’ count to come out here and let me in”

“Sir, do you not think that people have tried to claim knowing Count Edward at many of his charity balls and get together’s simply to get into the party?”

“I’m sure they do” He leaned in and took a peak over the list “But come on mate, most of these people are phonies!” He indicated the people standing patiently behind him, which caused a ripple of offended scoffs and several people starting to mutter.

“Look at that woman for example” He said, indicating a woman in an overly large hat “Who dresses like this? She’s so overly extravagant, it’s like she’s compensating for something”

The woman gasped and put her hand to her mouth as Corazón pulled her hat off her head and put it on his own, he gave a little bow to the doorman “I mean, who here isn’t just totally fake? All this pageantry, all this… whatever it is”

“Sir, you’re causing a scene.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

“I could get the guards”

Corazón grabbed the list of names out of his hand and ripped it up “You could just… tell the Count to come out here, He’ll recognize me. I promise” 

The doorman sighed and turned behind him, beckoning a younger man over towards him, he leaned in and whispered something to the man and straightened up “Now we simply wait” He said smugly “Now exactly how far did you possibly think you could take this?” He asked

“I mean… we’ll see who looks like an idiot in a minute”

They waited approximately four or five minutes before the young man returned with a guest, the man Corazón assumed was Count Edward. He did obnoxiously have a crown laying atop his head, he fought against rolling his eyes.

“Why did you call me down here?”

“This man here claims he has a right to enter your party, he says that you know him”

The man glanced at Corazón for a mere moment, squinting at him “I… he looks familiar, you look familiar, who are you?”

Corazón stepped forward and gave an exaggerated bow “Hello”, he straightened up and gave the man a forced smile.

“Holy wow!” The man exclaimed “Is that.. Percy?”

“In the flesh, my good man!”

Count Edward put his arm around Corazón and nearly yanked him into a hug that Corazón thought he wouldn’t ever be able to escape from.  He turned his attention to the door man “Are you daft?”

The man gulped and shook his head

“Do you know who this is?”

The man looked down and muttered something that Corazón couldn’t make out, Edward gave him a nudge “Speak up, young man”

“I said, Percival Milquetoast”

“And who is that, may I ask?”

“Lord Milquetoast’s son.. Sir”

“Suffice to say, you are fired. And you my dear boy, you of course are welcome into my home! Everyone else…” He addressed the crowed “Are you willing to help the charity I’m supporting tonight?”

Everyone cheered “yes” but Corazón was almost certain they would have cheered for anything if it got them inside the Count’s home. He was steered away from the crowd by Edward.

“You’re going to be at my special table, my dear child”

“I don’t mean to be rude, Sir” Corazón said “But I didn’t exactly come here to-”

“Don’t be so formal with me, Percival!” He said with an almost booming laugh as the pair walked through the hallway, which was lined with beautiful decorations and lighting, but Edward was leading Corazón into the main hall, which made him think of the previous night and the blood dripping all over the floor of the main hall in The Milquetoast Estate.

He closed his eyes and saw the events of the previous night playing out again and again, what could he have done differently?

Everything.

It was his fault Bladeor was dead.

“Percy, feel free to sit down” The Count said. Corazón opened his eyes and the room was filling up with more people who had come in from outside, Edward had led him to a long table with many haughty looking rich people, a woman draped in a deep purple dress lifted up a glass of wine to her lips and seemed to have perfected the bored sigh

“Everyone, this is Percival, I’m sure no other introduction is needed, he’s the Lord’s boy”

“Ah, Percival” An old man who Corazón did not know spoke, he looked like a piece of parchment that had been sitting in the sun too long, but then brushed with water and crumpled up until it was almost tearing in places. “What an absolute surprise to see you here”

“You… should be more surprised” Corazón said, taking a seat and looking around for any sign of Katie “I mean, aren’t I supposed to be dead?”

The woman with the glass of wine nearly spilled it over her dress as he said this, she let out a polite laugh and set the drink down.

“Oh, my dear boy. You are quite funny”

“I’m not trying to be funny I’m-” Corazón looked up and saw him sitting down at the end of the long table, a man in fancy gloves pouring a glass of wine for him. Corazón slammed his hand down on the table to get his attention.

The man didn’t even glance up, Corazón cleared his throat loudly, which caused a server to come towards him “Do you need something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine” He banged on the table again

The old crinkly man and the wine drinking woman exchanged a look, but Corazón ignored them, and watched as Count Edward made his way up to the other side of the table, he hit his wine class with a tiny spoon that Corazón was supposed to know the name of but didn’t give a damn about it.

“I have many things to say this year!” He said, his voice echoing off the walls of the great room. “I want to thank each and every one of you for coming, and I would like to welcome a very special and unexpected guest to our table…” He raised his glass to Corazón and gave a winking smile “Percival Milquetoast!”

Though there was noise, Corazón ignored it as his father finally looked at him. What was his expression? Shock? Disappointment?

Both.

Corazón kept eye contact with him for a moment before looking down at the table, he didn’t even bother listening to the rest of the speech the Count was rattling off, explaining his charity efforts, explaining his business connections with Corazón’s father.

Corazón turned around in his chair and looked around the party, hoping to spot a girl with a pearl on her head, he tried to stifle a laugh as the image of Dob smashing the large paper pearl over her head flashed through his mind but he couldn’t help himself and he laughed. 

A silence fell over the table, the wine drinking woman gave him an affronted look “Do you think my father’s terminal lumbago is funny?”

“I mean, it’s kind of funny”

She gasped and slumped back into her chair as the woman next to her gave Corazón a dirty look.

Corazón heard a disapproving scoff from the other side of the table, of course he knew who it was without looking.  He resisted the urge to give his father a rude hand gesture and sighed. 

“Lighten up” He said “I mean, why is everyone so stiff?”

“May it be mocking someone’s family is boorish?” Lord Milquetoast finally spoke from his place at the table

“I do agree” The wrinkly old man said, practically gasping for air as he spoke “I think that there needs to be a sense of manners among others”

“I _have_ manners” Corazón said

“You have yet to prove that is true, Percival”  His father said

The way he said his name, like it was something horrific and crude, like it was a spell to curse whoever spoke it. Corazón closed his eyes for a minute, he took a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth.

The table returned to normal conversation, various people speaking about their lives and the things they have been doing, Corazón knew this was all fake, it was all a contest of who was better at being rich, it was all he could do to not scream.

“Miss, you cannot be here if you keep trying to go places you aren’t allowed” a man said behind Corazón, he turned around and saw one of the Count’s staff speaking to a young woman with blonde shoulder length hair.

_Katie_

Corazón scraped his chair against the floor and got up from the table, but as he did this, Edward stood as well. “My dear boy, where are you heading in such a hurry?” _  
_

“He’s likely off to bend rules and sully the family name”  His father spoke in a tone that may have been sarcasm “To hang around ruffians and _cats_.”

A silence fell over the table as he said this, several people who were hobnobbing nearby also stopped speaking and watched the table.

Edward grimaced “Uh, anyway… Over the last year these balls have raised almost-”

“Of course you wouldn’t like cats” Corazón said “You don’t like anything that has the capability to love”

The wine drinking woman grabbed her wine glass and downed it in one shot as another woman put her hand to her mouth. He heard people whispering

“Why would he speak to his own father like that?”

“There is no respect there”

Corazón gave a shrug “Of course you would be mortally affronted at anything outside of this pathetic attempt at a life you call high society living” 

Edward made a face “Uh, Percival, Perhaps it would be best if-”

“It would be best if you shut your mouth” Corazón said “I don’t mean to be rude, sir, you did let me into your home after all, but if you don’t shut up I will kick you in the shins”

“Very elegant” Lord Milquetoast said, he casually took a sip of wine. Corazón glared at him for a moment, and suddenly the glass was taken out of his hand as if by an unseen force and wine was thrown into his face.

Corazón chuckled “Little trick I learned hanging out with ruffians” 

“I have had enough of this foolishness, Percival.”  He stood up “You will show me respect, I am your father”

“Really?” Corazón shouted at his father “Because you’re practically a stranger” He looked around at the others seated “It may shock everyone to find out that he hired my friends to murder me fairly recently”

This revelation was met with gasps of shock and awe, Lord Milquetoast walked around the table “It’s a bit more complicated than that” He said “I merely hired Percy’s old ruffian friends to bring him back home, as you are all quite aware, the problem child ran away”

“You told me you didn’t care if I died as long as your stupid name was protected!”

“If you would listen to your father, I’m sure he would be able to explain everything” Edward said “I’ve known him for a long time, he’s a-”

“Let me guess” Corazón said bitterly “A good man? Yeah… I’ve heard it before”

“Percival..” His father said in that same stiff, stilted tone that made Corazón think he had done something wrong.

“They were my friends…”

"Percy, they took the money... they obviously cared very little for you, which proves that this entire _venture_ of yours has been quite pointless"

"You don't get to decide that for me!" Corazón said, struggling to look at his father "You don't get to tell me right or wrong because your version of right is only what makes you happy, and your version of wrong is... basically everything I've ever done"

"Why must you make yourself into the victim, Percival?" His father said, pinching the bridge of his nose "We have provided for you, we have given you everything-" He began, but Corazón cut him off with an incredulous scoff.

"Everything except freedom, you mean?" He was angrier than he had ever been, and the worst part was that he didn't know if he was angrier at his father, or himself

"You don't even know me, you only know... possible heir Percival Milquetoast, that's _all_ you EVER cared about, not me, not the real me, not your _son_ "

He took a step forward, towards his father "You paid very little attention to me and then you wondered why I ran away, why I left to be something more!"

"Something more?" His father asked "So you think that being a thief is more noble than being part of this family?"

"To you, I'm the disappointing child, to you... I'm the family shame that should be hidden away and swept under the obnoxious rugs you keep in the manor, but to me... I'm a pirate! Do you have any idea what I've seen out there?"

Lord Milquetoast considered this for a moment "I don't care to know, it's quite enough to see the company you keep"

"They are my _friends_ " Corazón said defensively "I've always dreamed of being a man on an adventure, a man who could go anywhere, a pirate... who has an amazing crew that would never turn their back on him, and now I have that.  Why can't you be happy for me?"

"Because I find your life appalling, you leave a stain on the legacy of the Milquetoast name, one that will never be erased, and you are no son of mine, now if you don't mind... I will ask you only once to leave of your own accord"

Corazón turned away from him, but everyone in the hall was staring at him and the Lord, they were watching as though it was an interesting play where a dramatic scene was resolved by tears and a hug, he pushed through the tons of bodies, the fake faces of sympathy and hands reaching out for him to make him stay.

But they didn't want _him_ to stay, they wanted Percy, they wanted the young aristocrat that hated his life and dreamed of running away every night..  He turned back towards his father.

“You were supposed to be my father”

“I have always been your father, Percy, but you have always been a deeply disappointing son”

“I did everything right” Corazón said “I did everything right for so many years, the dutiful little Lord’s son, I did EVERYTHING for you, for your god forsaken attention, and you still didn’t give a damn about me, about anything but yourself…”

“Percival” Edward said once more, softer and a little warily “He’s your father”

“No, he’s not.”

Corazón left the main hall and broke into a run out the door, down the stone steps and down the cobbled street until he found an alley, he sunk down against the wall of the alley and swore under his breath.

He heard a noise from outside the alley and looked to see that Katie was leaning against the alley wall. He looked back down.

“Are you okay?” She asked

“Why would you care?”

“I’m not heartless” She said, walking a few paces closer to where he was sat “Are you crying?”

“No” He said without looking up

She sat on the ground against the wall opposite him and didn’t speak for a while, he couldn’t look up, he didn’t want to look up and have anyone see him like this.

“Do you know what it’s like?” He asked after a while

“What?”

“To see happiness.. Just out of your reach… while you are stuck behind the bars of a life you never chose, guarded by a person who is _supposed_ to love you, but doesn’t” He tried to keep his voice level, to stop it from cracking. “And you don’t… know why”

She shook her head “I can’t really say I specifically know what that’s like”

“My father… he never loved me, but I still wanted him to like me, I still wanted him to care. But birthday’s passed and achievements I made were just celebrated with a curt nod and nothing else.  I kept fooling myself into thinking that one day… one day he would be proud of me”

A silence fell over the alley as he trailed off again, noises could be heard from the street of drunken people happily shouting, and the sounds of carriages veering away from those drunken people.

“And I knew, you know.. I _knew_ My father didn’t want me, he was ashamed that I was in this family, I was the black sheep of the Milquetoast clan, I always have been…”

He looked at the bin next to him, it was full of old boxes covered in dust, he absentmindedly traced lines into the dust, lines that turned into drawings of pirate ships and small islands.

“To wonder if there is something wrong with you because your family only looks at you with disappointment, or disdain, to wonder if you even deserve happiness… I mean I saw other people when I was a child who were happy, who had fun and who seemed so carefree… I looked at them, and then I looked at myself, and I said… ‘What is wrong with you, Percy?’”

Katie looked as though she wanted to say something for a moment but thought better of it, simply staying silent.

“When I finally broke away from that, from my father… from that life, I thought that I had something wonderful, that happiness that I had always reached for but could never quite get my fingers around, I was a captain, I had a crew.”

“And then you cursed them”

“Well, a couple of months ago I found out that even before the curse, they thought I was a loser, a phony, a fake… I don’t even think they liked me”

Katie simply shrugged “I don’t… have any experience with anything like this, and I don’t quite know what you expect me to say”

“I don’t expect anything from you, Katie… Just one thing”

“What?” She said, slightly annoyed

“Don’t tell anyone what happened, don’t tell them about my father, don’t tell them I ran out of the party, and don’t tell them that you found me crying alone in an alley”

Katie pushed up from the ground without another word, she made her way back to the street, but turned back to look at him “I can’t promise any of that”

“Can you at least help me? My ships gone, little slip of paper at the docks has your name on it, do you have any idea what that’s about?”

She shrugged “Might know something, maybe meet me in the tavern later and we can talk”

He looked down at his hands, covered in tiny cuts and scrapes from the last couple of days, when he looked up again, Katie was gone.

And he was alone.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I had planned for Corazon to have a conversation with Katie inside Edward's estate, but changed my mind as I thought it would speed things along to have him meet her outside. 
> 
> \------
> 
> Lord Milquetoast was originally going to have been attacked in the forest by a wolf and healed by Dob, but I decided against it in the writing process. 
> 
> \----- 
> 
> The dinner scene was supposed to be longer, but I couldn't find spots for some of the things I wanted to do.


	11. May I Stand, Unshaken.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a head as the group finally finds each other once more, and horrifying secrets are uncovered.

Dob whined “Merilwen, we’ve been looking for ages, he’s probably already gone home by now, I mean.. The sun’s going to set soon”

 “Or” Merilwen offered “Been attacked and subsequently _eaten_ by a bear”

“I mean, do we really care that much if he has?”

Merilwen gasped and smacked Dob against the arm “Dob! He’s our friends father”

“But.. He’s kind of a bad father”

Merilwen sighed and took a moment to stop and close her eyes “I know, but it’s… Not good to let someone else get hurt, no matter how much you don’t like them.. We’re going to keep looking.”

“But what about Cor?”

“We’re going to find him, but I’m not leaving this forest until we find his father, and if we can’t find him here, we’ll go back to the manor to see if he did make it out”

The pair made their way deeper into the forest, she had no idea where they were going or what direction Lord Milquetoast may have gone in, she wasn’t worried for that man’s sake, she was worried for the sake of her friend.

After a while it felt like they were just going in one large circle, with no sign of the Lord anywhere around.

“Merilwen…” Dob said, pulling at the sleeve of his wood elf friend, she didn’t turn around, she kept moving forward until he tugged her again “Merilwen!”

“What?!” She spun around “If you’re just going to complain that we’ve passed that tree twice now, I don’t want to hear it”

“I was just going to say.. There’s a… wolf” He extended his arm out and pointed towards a clearing where an angry looking wolf was indeed sitting, watching them.  Her eyes widened and she pushed Dob behind her, holding out her arm to stop him moving forward.

“Dob, don’t go near that wolf”

“But Merilwen, what if it-”

She focused for a moment and vines started sprouting up from the ground around them, growing at an alarming pace and wrapping themselves around the wolves paws. The loud snap of a branch nearby alerted them to the presence of another wolf, which lunged at Merilwen without hesitation, sinking it’s sharp teeth right into her outstretched arm.

If Lord Milquetoast was in the forest, he would have heard the blood curdling screams that followed.

 

* * *

“What was that about?” The woman said, swirling the wine in her glass

 Count Edward beckoned a server over and whispered to him about needing a towel, the man nodded and headed out to fetch one.

The old looking man turned to Lord Milquetoast, who was still standing with wine down the front of his shirt. Edward handed him the towel that the server had fetched for him.

“I don’t need that”

“But Lord, your-”

“Covered in wine, yes. I realize that.” He let out a sigh “I’m going to go look for Percival. I apologize for the departure”

Edward nodded “Something has gotten into your son, if you don’t mind me speaking above my business. I don’t remember him ever being like that as a child”

“Then you weren’t paying attention” the Lord said stiffly as he made his way out of the great hall and into the foyer, and out the door.

A blonde girl bumped right into him as he made his way down the stone stairs “Ow” She said “Watch it!”

“Excuse me? Do you have any idea who I am-”

She stopped and looked up at him “Oh, I know who you are.” She laughed “Your Corazón’s father.” She threw back her head in a laugh “He’s over there in that alley if you want to talk to him”

She bumped him right in the shoulder “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to nick stuff from that stuffy Count in there while he’s not looking” She opened the doors again, and for a moment the sounds of the party were inviting, telling him to come back in, to turn away.

He looked at the sky, the sun was just starting to set, bathing everything in a sort of orange glow. He walked towards the alley that the young lady had pointed out, and sure enough there he was, sitting against the wall and tracing drawings into the dust on boxes sat out for the garbage.

He didn’t say anything for a moment, just watching his son. He wondered where it had gone wrong.

Percy paused in his drawing and without looking away from the boxes he spoke “I know your there, you are very bad at stealth, I would know, I’m the best”

“Will you just come back into the estate? Join everyone for the party?”

“Why?” Percy asked “I don’t belong here, you know that, I know that, everyone in there knows that.  This night is just a repeat of my childhood and let me tell you, I don’t like it”

“Percy”

“That’s not my name”

Lord Milquetoast looked everywhere but at his son, he let out a sigh and started to turn back to the Count’s estate.

“Why do you even care?” Percy asked, stopping him from moving any further

“You’re my son”

“You just denounced me in front of all those stuffy idiots!”  He said angrily “You’ve never stood up for me, you’ve never been there for me”

“Percival, It took a lot of me to come out here and speak to you, I would ask you show some respect”

Percy stood up, brushing off his outfit and taking a few steps forward “Do you see this?” He pointed at the cut on his arm “This is from a man who hates you, so he came after me. I came here to get my stuff, I came here to maybe, possibly get closure, but all I got was hurt”

“Who did that to you?”

“Tobias Idiotface”

Lord Milquetoast raised an eyebrow “I assume he has a proper name”

“Yes, he does, but I forgot what it was so whatever, he’s a stupid orc idiot who is stupid and I hate him”

“Would it be possible to cut the vulgarities for five seconds?”

Percy rolled his eyes “Not sure, _Father_ , would it be possible to cut the formalities?” He looked around “None of your stuffy idiot friends are here, so you don’t have to worry about them thinking less of you for talking to your son like he’s a person, and not just a disappointment”

Lord Milquetoast pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply “You have always been such a… rebellious child, we tried very hard to reign that in but…”

“Reign what in?” He asked incredulously “My sense of adventure? Wonder? Amazement? Did you just want me to take after you?”

“I wanted you to be a part of our family legacy, Percy”

Percy glared at him and without warning shoved him back with a surprising amount of strength, Lord Milquetoast was able to keep himself from falling over though, but his balance was thrown off.

“Legacy? What legacy? Pretending you are better than everyone else is a really fucking shitty thing to have as a legacy!” He shouted “Because I know you’re not better than anyone, and to hell if I am!”

“Imagine that, all the self aggrandizing literature you’ve sent home was all lies to make yourself feel more important”

“No” He said, taking a step forward and shoving his father again, harder this time, the man almost fell but was once again able to hold his balance “I wanted YOU to think I was important, I wanted YOU to be proud of me.” He let out a scoff “But of course! Nothing I ever did was good enough because I didn’t want to grow up into you”

He shook his head “You know… I’ve seen some weird shit out there, an evil doppelganger of my friend tried to murder us, a giant mechanical beetle, sixty skeletons in an angry battle against the five of us… But the true nightmare, the one I have every night, is that if I stayed… I’d be just like you”

“Is that so terrible?” He asked his son “I’m a successful person, I’m well known and respected in this community, and I’m not a brash, obnoxious thief”

“Yes!” Percy shouted, it echoed off the walls of the alley and into the evening, if the music wasn’t so loud inside the estate, people may have been able to hear it. “What’s the point of being respected if your own son hates you!” He groaned angrily “You just don’t get it, do you!?”

“Percy, don’t say such things”

“No! I will say them, because they are true, they’ve always been true…  I was ten years old the first time I thought about hate, and when I thought about it, it was YOU that I saw”

He looked away from his son, down at the dirty and wet alley that was covered in garbage, he remembered the elf and the orc forcing him to sit down in the forest and would rather be back there than in this horrid situation, face to face with his son’s misplaced anger.

“Do you have any idea what it feels like to be a child overhearing your father talking to his stuffy heartless friends about how much of a disappointment his son is?”

“Percy… I”

Percy finally lost it and shoved him once more with all of his strength, pushing him to the wet ground and standing over him, breathing heavy and clenching his fists “That’s not my name” He kicked him in the shin and walked past him to leave the alley.

“I’m your father, Percy…”

“You’re not my father, you never have been and I want nothing more to do with you.”

And with that, his son left him there on the ground of the dark and dirty alley, he sat there on the ground for a while, his son’s words echoing through his head.

Eventually Count Edward came out of the estate, finding him there in the alley, he bustled about “What’s happened here?!” He asked “Did someone mug you?”

Lord Milquetoast shook his head “I found Percy”

Count Edward gasped “Did he push you down?” He shook his head “Like I said, there is something deeply wrong with that child of yours, I mean what kind of child would hurt their father? There is no excuse, if he was my son-”

Lord Milquetoast gave the man a look “He isn’t your son, so don’t you dare finish that sentence”

“I’m just saying, Lord… I wouldn’t let that fly, that child is a problem, he’s better off with the urchins if he’s going to act that way, who does he even think he is?”

“He thinks he’s a pirate” He answered, finally pushing himself up off the ground and brushing off his clothes.

“What are you going to do about him, Sir?” The Count asked as Lord Milquetoast tried to steady himself, he looked out at the state, and the start of a deep blue night. “There has to be some sort of punishment for this behavior”

“He’s going to come home” Lord Milquetoast answered “Whether he wants to or not, he will be a part of the Milquetoast clan. He will live as my heir, and there is nothing he can do to stop that, This is the way of things”

“The world as it should be” Edward remarked as the two men stared out into the night.

 

* * *

Egbert let out a sigh, which also let out a curl of smoke from his nose as the two left the old worn down apartment building. Prudence stopped and looked at him.

 

“Not that I’m ever against violence, but you seem to be upset”

He sighed again “I feel like I’m getting further away from my atonement, I just… watched as you nearly burned a man to death in there”

“But he deserved it”

“Is that really my place to say?”

“It’s not like he’s dead, if that makes you feel better” Prudence said, turning around and continuing to walk, Egbert followed beside her

“It doesn’t, but I don’t exactly expect you to understand”

She made a face in response “Is that a…is that a racism?”

“No!” He said “I don’t.. Like I know when we first met I was a bit rude about you being a tiefling, but I don’t really feel that way. I’m a big dragon, I’d have to be a total jerk to be racist because you happen to have horns”

“That reminds me, why are you a dragon? You said you were a human before”

“I was… but it’s a really long… and complicated story, it would take about an hour to an hour and a half to discuss it”  He said in a wistful tone as the pair created more distance between them and the presumably charred corpse of the man that once was Cornelius.

“Is the dragon thing because you’re atoning for something? I mean, we’ve known each other for over a month now and you’ve been so shady about your past, even shadier than Cora, though he still won’t tell anyone what happened the night his crew was cursed.”

“Maybe he’s not ready to talk about it, just as I am not with my past”

“Fair enough, but I think your wrong about me not being able to understand your worry or remorse over Cornelius. I have a past too, you know”

“I suppose that’s true for all of us.”

They walked in silence for a while, the sun was starting to set behind them and Egbert turned to her after a bit “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to the top of the hill, I thought you knew that!”

“I Just thought we were walking”

“Yes, to the manor, We’re going to see if the others are there”

“Do you think they will be?”

Prudence shrugged as they passed by Cornelius’s former shop, Egbert looked away, a feeling of guilt welling up in his stomach, or maybe he was hungry.

“Do you think there’s food at the manor?”

“Rich people always have food” She said matter-of-factly

The manor was growing in size the closer they got to it, until they were finally at the gate, which was strangely already open “It’s open” Egbert whispered loudly

“I can see that” Prudence whispered back “Wait, why are we whispering?”

“In case there’s someone here, like our friends are fine but that rich jerk isn’t”

“Do you think we should sneak?”

“I think I’m a giant dragon man, if you want to sneak, I’ll have to stay by the gate”

“Fair enough” She said, and with her best impression of Corazón, she crouched down and made her way stealthily up the path to the manor.

* * *

Corazón walked into the seedy tavern, it looked quite different than the one he had been in before, instead of a nice atmosphere, there were skulls adorning the walls and they looked particularly human. He looked around, though the smoke in the tavern he could see Katie sitting in a booth on her own, carving something into the table with a knife. 

He sat across from her and put his hands on the table to stop her “I’m here, where’s my ship?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not super far away” She said “But I need you to do something for me first.”

“Excuse me?” He said “Why the hell would I do anything for you when you stole my ship!?”

“Because, cry baby, if you don’t help me.. I obviously won’t tell you where your ship is”

“Or I could just stab you in the hand and you’ll tell me anyway”

She stabbed the exposed bit of table between his fingers and let the dagger stand there on it’s own while she leaned back in the booth “Now, look, I don’t want to fight” She said “I just want your help”

“With?”

“I want whatever I can take from the ship”

“What?! Why?” He asked incredulously, his loud exclaim was nearly almost completely drowned out by the noise of the other drunken patrons yelling, fighting and daring each other to drink more ale.  Somebody in the corner tried to climb up the walls and fell with a loud thud right on his head.

“Because, again, I won’t help you if you don’t promise it”

“Fine, but not… whatever you want, you can’t take our hammer”

Katie raised her eyes “Why the hell would I want a hammer?”

“Yes, you keep thinking like that. Fine, you can take anything you want within reason”

“Deal”

“Should we shake on it?”

“I don’t want to touch your weird pirate hand”

“What do you think I do all day? Rub barnacle juice all over my hands?”

“I mean if that’s what you’re into…”

She rose from the table and brushed off the dust from the booth that had settled on her outfit “Lets go, I’ll take you to where the ship is”

“Finally” He rose from the booth as well and followed behind her, keeping a close eye on where she was heading in case she tried to trick him.

They walked out the tavern and onto the cobbled streets, down several alleyways that he vaguely recognized from the first night that he was here, when Tobias was leading them into a trap.

He thought he heard something behind him but he didn’t want to take his eyes off Katie and where she was headed, because all though she said she would help him for anything on his ship, she was still a thief and would definitely try to double cross him.

The dark was almost too dark, and he cursed his inability to see through it like his friends.  “Katie, where the hell are we going?”

“Sh!” She said “be quiet”, she whispered back “We’re like, really close to some crazy vampires house and I don’t want her to hear us”

“Vampire?”

“It’s a really long story” Katie said in a hushed voice

Soon they made their way out of the dark alley and onto a patch of grass leading out to a strange path that rounded a large hill, behind the hill was a small port, large enough for only two ships to dock.

“Wow, what is this?”

“It’s Abelforth’s second port, but nobody ever uses it because it’s massively impractical”

“Huh, I’ve lived here for quite a while and never knew about this”

“Well, now you now. And anyway, there’s your pride and joy” She said looking out over the water to the ship “We just need to get down there, get on the ship and-”

“Corazón?” She said, turning around to find that he was no longer there, she looked every which way and even made her way back around the strange winding path.

He was simply gone.

“Well then” She said, “I guess I’ll just… help myself” She grumbled all the way to the ship “Not exactly what the plan was, but I’ll take it, I’ll just have to… I’ll simply have to wait for another chance to present itself.”

She stepped onto the docked Joyful Damnation and stared out at the water “Not that taking whatever I want isn’t good, but… I wanted so badly to see the look on the idiot’s face when my plan was executed, perfectly, I might add”

She looked around “Why am I talking to myself…”

* * *

Prudence pushed open the door of the manor, the door had seemingly been lockable at one point but the locking mechanism had been broken, she crept into the hall of the manor and tried not to gasp at the grandeur of it all.

“Corazón?” She whispered as she crept through as quietly as she could, she wondered how Egbert was doing out by the gates, she hoped he wasn’t going to blow anything up while she was in here.

“Corazón?” She whispered again, a little louder this time, but no answer.  As she turned the corner she heard voices, maybe that was somebody… She crept closer and closer until she could hear what was going on inside the room.

“And of course it will work, I’ve done the research” A man’s voice said, it wasn’t anything she had ever heard before, she tried to look around the corner into the room but wasn’t able to lean over that far without falling.

“As long as it works, that’s all I care about. We will do this, and finally bring Percy home.”

Prudence audibly gasped, and the two men stopped talking “What was that?” Lord Milquetoast’s voice said “Go see what that was”

“Of course” the other man said, Prudence abandoned her stealth and stood straight up, running down the hall and out the door once more.

* * *

Dob grabbed a branch from the forest floor and angrily brandished it at the two wolves, who were circling him and his nearly unconscious friend, Merilwen was holding her bleeding wrist with her other hand but losing blood fast.

“Dob!” She shouted “Get out of the way”

He ducked out of the way as a third wolf joined the fray “Holy wow” He said “I don’t think we can fight all of them, we have to get the hell out of here”

“But I can barely move..”

The three wolves made a growling sound and if possible made their faces even more furious as Dob picked up his fallen friend “We’re going to make a run for it in about five seconds, so hold on tight” He said, Merilwen abandoned holding her wrist to hold onto the straps of Dob’s adventure pack. He made a loud growling sound to the animals and they slowly backed away, but were still barring their teeth threateningly.

He looked towards a clearing of the woods and then back at the wolves, blocking all other exists, he started to run as fast as possible, knowing the wolves were right behind him, he jumped over bushes and branches and got smacked in the face by several branches still attached to trees, until finally.

He crashed right into another person who had been running past, dropping Merilwen into a heap and toppling over onto his head.

“Ow” He said , recovering quickly and sitting up “Is everyone alright?”

“No” Merilwen said “I’m bleeding”

“Dob, Merilwen?!” a voice said, Prudence sat up in the grass

“Pru!?” Merilwen said “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long long story, but we have to get to the docks, right now.. Corazón’s in danger”

She stood up and helped Merilwen to her feet, seeing her arm was all blooded, Merilwen winced “Wolf bit me”

“I can hear you” Dob said, getting to his feet as well, and brushing off wet grass from his trousers, or at least trying to.  “Can you do it on the fly? Because we have to run” Prudence said.

The three of them ran down the path to the gate, and past a confused Egbert who just joined in on the running anyway, they ran until it was hard to breathe, they ran until their legs would fall off, and then finally they made it to the docks near the center square of the town. There was nobody there, no ship, no Corazón, no nothing.

Except for a blonde girl sitting on a bench wearing a pirate hat and clinking some rings together in her hands “Oh, Hello” She said

They turned around to be face to face with Katie Delacour, a woman they had previous experience with during an awkward Winter Festival.

“Katie?” Merilwen grunted, Dob started to use a healing spell on her wolf bite while inspecting it

“I don’t think those wolves were rabid, thank goodness” He said “But you’re losing a lot of blood”

“I’ve noticed” She said, swaying slightly on her feet.

“If you’re looking for Corazón, he’s gone. I have no idea where he is.”

“Are you expecting us to believe you didn’t have anything to do with it? You’re wearing his hat!”

She shrugged “I just took this off the Damnation, it’s in Abelforth’s other port”

“Abelforth has two ports?” Egbert asked

“Little know fact about it” Katie mused “But I’m just as surprised as you guys are, one minute he was behind me and the next he was just gone, I had plans, too!”

“Oh, to steal his hat?”

“No, much, much bigger plans that I’m not going to share with you losers”

Prudence took a step forward towards Katie “Corazón’s in trouble, I overheard his father and some weirdo planning on kidnapping him up at the estate”

“Wow, father of the year.” Katie said “I mean, that sucks but what am I supposed to do? I can’t help you. What’s in it for me?”

“We’ll pay you in gold” Dob said, looking around for objections “Oh, right, Corazón’s not here.. Uh… we’ll give you all the gold we have”

“Dob!” Merilwen said as the color was starting to return to her cheeks and the wound on her hand was being healed quite nicely by Dob’s magic.

“Deal” Katie said “No takesies-backsies”

Dob shook his head “Of course not…”

And as the moon rose larger in the sky, five people stood in the town square making a plan to find their lost friend.

* * *

“I told you this would work” a voice said happily

“I very nearly doubted you, but you’ve provided an excellent service, my friend” another voice said, while the man the voice belonged to took a sip of wine from his glass and stared at his sleeping son.

“I’m very pleased with how this has turned out”

“Well, we’ll really see the fruits of our labor when he wakes up”

Lord Milquetoast nodded solemnly and leaned in to the other man “Did you find a suitable replacement yet?”

“I think I have, I just have to meet with him and make sure he’s going to be able to fill a pirates shoes”

The Lord nodded again and took a deep breath.

“The world as it should be” He said in almost a whisper as he clinked his glass with Count Edward’s

 


	12. The Adventure Continues

The adventure continues in... Royal State of Mind, available now! 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842422/chapters/44717701


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